As Maharashtra Politics Approaches Crucial Floor Test, Will There be More Poetry From Raut, Malik?

As the extraordinary tale of Maharashtra politics enters its final stages with the Supreme Court ordering a Floor Test on Wednesday, amid all the suspense, shrilled excitement and perhaps, even a degree of wryness, now hangs a question: will the formation of government also draw a curtain on the poetry performances – some of the best that Indian politics has seen -- by Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut and NCP’s Nawab Malik?

Throughout the Maharashtra saga, leaders from all camps spewed venom for political gains using vitriolic language and launching unforgiving attacks at each other.

But as the saying goes, only the very weak-minded refuse to be influenced by literature and poetry, and nobody understands this better than Raut and Malik, who took the poetic route, conjuring lines for every occasion – to the point that it almost seemed outrageous to not pay attention to their poetic sparring and expect to make sense of what was happening – because all the clues were in it.

From the early doubts and fears of over the fate of the Congress-NCP-Shiv Sena alliance that came after an ugly divorce between the Sena and BJP, the early morning shock of watching a gleeful Devendra Fadnavis swearing-in as the CM, to the frustrations that came with the delay in floor-test, and the subsequent paranoia over horse-trading – every episode, bitter or sweet, found poetic resonance through the Twitter accounts of Raut and Malik.

Now once again, the Twitterati is keeping a watch on timeless couplets of Mir or Jalib to make an appearance on their timeline in the last-leg of what has come to be known as the ‘Maha Drama’.

News 18.com does a recap on poetry by the two leaders in the run up to the SC verdict.

Malik on transiency of power

Malik, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) who has been busy with party’s core committee meetings, has been at the forefront of efforts to cobble up an alliance with the Shiv Sena and Congress to offer an alternate government to Maharashtra.

When he was jolted early morning one day with the news of BJP forming a government with the support of NCP’s Ajit Pawar, the leader communicated his shock with poetry.

In his sublime quotations, there was a lesson on the transient nature of politics, the will of the fighters and the resolve to get justice.

“Humse deewane bhi duniya ki khabar rakhte hain; hum jo zinda hain toh jeene ka hunar rakhtein hain;” Agar falak ko zid hai bijliyan girane ki; toh humein bhi zid hai wahin aashiyan basane ki. Hum honge kamyaab. Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamare dil me hai, dekhna hai zor kitna bazuey qaatil me hain."

When the political developments strengthened the NCP’s resolve to continue the fight, it was well reflected in another bout of poetry:

“Usse ghamand tha talwar uske haath me hain, mujhe sukoon hai baazu abhi salamat hai”, Jo Aaj sahibe masnad hai kal nahi honge, kirayedar hain zaati makaan thodi hai.

From Raut, the lamp of Vajpayee

Ajit Pawar’s move to support Fadnavis was met with Raut reciting Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s famous poetry on keeping the lamp burning – “Aao phir se diya jalayein.” In the turbulent times, where Ajit Pawar and Fadnavis camp were flaunting their support, the Shiv Sena leader revisited Habib Jalib’s poetry that speaks truth to power – “Tumse pehle jo shaqs yahan takht nashin tha, usko bhi apne khuda hone pe yaqeen tha.”

Countering all the moves by BJP, Raut said, “Hum bure hi theek hai, jab achche they tab kaunsa medal mil gaya”. In this Raut got online support from Malik who quoted his tweet underlining the fact there is no going back from the battle, “Rahon ki zahmaton ka tumse kya sabot dun, manzil mili toh paaon me chchale nahi rahein,” tweeted Malik.

Amid narratives on how the BJP’s Ajit Pawar stroke had outsmarted the NCP-Shiv Sena Congress alliance, Raut declared that history is made by those who are at first laughed at, through the lines: “Jis jis par yeh jag hansa hai, usi ne itihas racha hai.”

Malik lent the support to this as well and said that there is no stone unturned for forming the alternate government, “dasht to dasht hai dariya bhi na chhode humne, bahrein zulmat me dauda diye ghode humne.”