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Bihar Assembly Election | Hues of campaign: Cricket, films and hyperboles

With just a week left for voting, all the colours of politics have started playing out in Bihar
Last Updated 22 October 2020, 01:13 IST

Song, dialogue and action. With just a week left for voting, all the colours of politics have started playing out in Bihar.

While parodies of Bollywood song and Bhojpuri actors are adding glitz to the poll campaign, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday brought in a cricket allegory comparing the BJP-JD (U) partnership with the opening pair of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag.

He sought to reinforce ‘Mr Clean’ image around Nitish Kumar saying no one can raise a finger on him regarding corruption.

The suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput became a hot political issue centred around the ‘son of Bihar’ theme, between July and September. However, it failed to become a poll issue and lost traction by the time elections were declared.

However, the Bollywood bug bit the Bihar polls soon after the rap song “Bambai mein ka ba” starring actor Manoj Bajpai hit the screens. A number of parodies against and for the Nitish government hit the campaign based on this.

The BJP has now fielded well-known Bhojpuri singer and former Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari in the campaign. Tiwari is not only regaling the audience but also sending a message of continuity for the NDA government in Bihar through a parody “Suna ho Bihar ke bhaiya” (Listen, Bihari brother) of the famous song “Jiya ho Bihar ke Lala (Live on the son of Bihar) from Hindi blockbuster Gangs of Wasseypur.

The song talks about the development in Bihar during Nitish regime after the Lalu raj, a theme echoed even in Rajnath’s election speeches on Wednesday.

Another song doing the rounds is Rozgar deba ki karba drama, kursi to har baap ken na ha (Will you provide jobs or will you indulge in drama) at a time when jobs have charted high in the poll campaign of Bihar.

In the hard-boiled politics of agrarian Hindi state, niceties have a limited role. And no one wants to be left behind as the battle of barbs is full of hyperboles.

Chirag Paswan, who showed respect to Nitish by touching his feet on Tuesday, ripped him apart the next day by mocking at him for latching on to development works done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

On the second day of his campaign, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath warned that Congress-RJD along with ultra-Left CPI (ML) could revive Maoism in Bihar.

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(Published 21 October 2020, 20:17 IST)

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