Old is gold, garibi hatao outlasts chant for naya Bihar-13/10/10

Old is gold, garibi hatao outlasts chant for naya Bihar

Navendu Sharma, TNN, Oct 13, 2010, 01.59am IST


Tags:garibi hatao|bihar election|asian development research institute
PATNA: Remember Indira Gandhi's famous slogan, " Garibi hatao" of the '70s? Election is the time for political parties to capture the mindspace. Catchy and pithy slogans and graffiti play a key role in reaching their message to the electorate. Every election, parties coin new slogans to woo voters. However, many of the slogans raised decades ago, are still fresh in public memory. They shed light on the political undercurrents of their time.

Political parties in Bihar are yet to come out with their manifestos. Once they do that, slogans will start flowing out of their armoury. The NDA alliance, in keeping with its claim of having banished the RJD's "jungle raj", has decided to go hammer and tongs to drive home its point. Its new slogan reads: "Paanch varsh purva jo raj tha, sahma hua samaj tha (five years ago, people were terrified under the then regime)." However, many of the slogans have stood the test of time and continue to be raised with full vigour even now, albeit with some minor changes here and there. "Jaat par na paat par, Indiraji ki baat par, mohar lagegi haath par" (our vote will not be guided by caste or creed, but will go to Indira-ji on the hand symbol), "Jahan bhi dekhein lalten chhap, wahin lagayen mohar aap" (wherever you see the lantern, cast your vote there), and "Desh ka neta kaisa ho, Rajiv Gandhi jaisa ho (our leader should be like Rajiv Gandhi)."

During the '70s, Indira Gandhi had got a huge mandate on the basis of her slogan "Garibi hatao". In reply, her detractors came up with a slogan: "Dekho Indira ka yeh khel, kha gayi ration, pi gayi tel" (Indira has created a shortage of foodgrains and edible oils)."

Another slogan that can be heard even today, with a substitution of the opposition party's name to suit one is, "Gali, gali mein shor hai, — party chor hai (everyone knows — party is corrupt)."

BJP's earlier incarnation, Jan Sangh, was mocked by sloganeering, "Is diye mein tel nahin, sarkar badalna khel nahin (the earthen lamp, Jan Sangh's poll symbol, is without oil and a change of regime is not its cup of tea)."

But non-Congress parties did replace the Congress in Delhi in 1977 in a spectacular mandate against the imposition of Emergency in 1975. Lok Nayak Jaya Prakash Narayan had prevailed upon the non-Congress parties to unite under the banner of Janata Party. Old-timers still remember the slogan of that time, "Jahan bhi dekhen haldhar chhap, wahin lagayen mohar aap (wherever you see the symbol of a farmer carrying a plough, the symbol of Janata Party, cast your vote).

Left parties did not lag behind in coining attractive slogans. Echoes of "Lal Qila par lal nissan, maang raha hai Hindustan" can be heard in Bihar, nay India, even now, though their intensity may have gone down over the
years. "Aap ki mohar kahan lagegi, hasua or baali par (your vote will go to the sickle and corn, the symbol of CPI)" is another. NDA was voted to power on the strength of "Ab ki bari, Atal Behari (now it is Atal Behari's turn)."

Earlier, VP Singh's supporters would cry: "Raja nahin fakir hai, Bharat ki takdir hai (he is neither king nor beggar, he is India's destiny)."

In Bihar, the Nitish Kumar-led NDA won in 2005 with the help of slogans like "Nayi sarkar, naya Bihar" (vote for a new government, a new Bihar) and "Aaiye milkar saathbadhen, naye Bihar ka roop garhen (let's join hands to create a new Bihar)." Old-timer, K Upadhyay, recalls a vivid graffiti of 1977. Attacking the Janata Party for the presence of many ambitious leaders in its ranks, the Congress said, "Barbad gulistan karne ko bus ek hi ullu kafi hai, har shaakh par ullu baitha hai, aanjam gulistan kya hoga (one owl is enough to spoil a garden, what will happen when there is an owl on every branch)."

Member-secretary of the Patna-based Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI), Shaibal Gupta, however, says that the shelf life of slogans is limited. "Earlier, slogans were of substantive nature and said everything in those few words. But now, the electronic media sets the pace and creates slogans. Thus, the thunder of creative slogans by political parties is generally lacking


Old is gold, garibi hatao outlasts chant for naya Bihar - The Times of India