The Patna High Court last week said Bihar is burning but state politicians think the hottest issue is a Bhojpuri audio album they want banned.Bihar Nahi Sudhari (Bihar hasn’t improved), which sold one million copies in the last three years, has invited the ire of Bihar’s law makers who think it is not doing them any good. And how can it when every truck and every dhaba on the road ceaselessly play Humko vidhayak banao, hum Balero chalayenge aur dalali karenge (Make me an MLA, I will drive a Bolero and become a middleman)? So when Samata Party’s Baidyanath Prasad Kushwaha raised the issue in the Assembly today, MLAs cuts across party lines to give vent to their ire. In chorus. The Speaker assured the House that action would be taken. Parliamentary Affairs minister Ramchandra Purve has asked for a copy of the album. Deputy Speaker Bhola Prasad Singh wants the cassette producers summoned.The album, brought out by T Series, has as its lead singers Chela Bihari, Ajay Prasad and Anand Mohan who are now household names in Bihar. The lyrics have been composed by Binay Bihari.The songs have to do with Bihar’s burning issues: of corruption, massacres and the abrasive political class of the state. The album has been an unprecedented hit, say Patna music shop owners.
