On his birthday yesterday,Chhattisgarh Congress president Nand Kumar Patel showed the state a new side of himself. And as he burst forth in poetry in attacking the state government,the BJP replied in kind. Every newspaper here on Tuesday morning carried a page-long poem,conceived by Patel and given words by his assistant and bhav sanyojak Bhojraj Kritarth,accompanied by a looming,brooding photograph of his. Is kavita mein mere hi bhaav hain,kuchh shabd mere sahyogi Bhojraj ne diye hain (These are my expressions,some words are lent by my assistant Bhojraj), Patel told The Indian Express,adding that he had decided not to celebrate his birthday as he was deeply disturbed by the poor governance in the state. The theme of the poem was not surprising: Purkhon ke banaye baandh-talab to paat diye gaye/ab nadi ke pani ko bhi bechne nikal gaye. Havaa mein ab panchhi bhi udne se manaa karte hain/aise mein kya jashn aur kya janmadin. Translated,in a state where waters of rivers are being sold and birds are scared to fly,what use celebration? Patel made a mention of the people who lost vision after the recent cataract camps in the state,adding the irony was that Chief Minister Raman Singh himself is a doctor. As TV channels went one step further and started reading out the poem,the BJP responded with two poems written by one Ghudsu Ram Nag of Bijapur and Ramu Patel of Kharsia. Satya ke agrah par lathiyon ki bauchhaar/Ramlila Maidan mein Ravanon ka prahar. Kashmir ke kheton mein mehka hai kesar/usse mehroom kyun hain wahin ke bashar, said the BJP verse,attacking the Congress over the alleged highhandedness in dealing with protesters during the recent agitations by Anna Hazare and Ramdev in Delhi. Patel claims his effort was better because the BJP has come up with fictitious writers,and promises that his poem wasnt a stray effort. I will now regularly take this form and express my bhaav (feelings).
