Popular characters from the 1975 Hindi blockbuster Sholay
have entered the political discourse ahead of Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections
scheduled on the November 17.
The Opposition Congress and the ruling BJP are
accusing each other of looting the state drawing parallels with the film’s
characters, who were associated with crime in some way or the other.
The Congress said the “bonhomie” between its State
president Kamal Nath and senior leader Digvijaya Singh was akin to the bond
shared by ‘Jai’ and ‘Veeru’, played by Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra
respectively, in the film, while Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said Jai
and Veeru were fighting over the distribution of “plundered booty”.
Nath termed Chouhan ‘Gabbar Singh’, the movie’s lead
villain.
Elections to the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly
will be held in a single phase on November 17.
Noted scriptwriter and filmmaker Rumi Jaffery said, “It
is a matter of satisfaction to us that dialogues and characters picturised by
us decades back in films like Sholay or Mughal-e-Azam are still relevant and
people are using them even today. These characters are timeless and will remain
in the world.”
The Jai-Veeru duo entered the political arena in the State
after a protest over ticket distribution led Nath to make his “tear clothes of
Digvijaya Singh and his son Jaivardhan Singh” remark. It sparked speculation
that all was not well between the two former Congress chief ministers.
Responding to a question about the matter, Congress
general secretary in-charge of Madhya Pradesh Randeep Singh Surjewala equated
the friendship between Nath and Singh with the one shared by Jai and Veeru.
The BJP seized the opportunity to hit back at the
grand old party on the issue.
CM Chouhan took a swipe at Singh and Nath, referring
to them as Sholay’s Jai and Veeru, who he said were fighting between themselves
over the distribution of “plundered booty”.
In a video statement shared on his X account, Chouhan
said, “Jai-Veeru duo was called to Delhi. As newspapers reported, they
(Congress leaders) are saying that the BJP is creating confusion (about
differences between Nath and Singh). Why has Delhi (Congress leadership) called
them? Jai and Veeru are fighting between themselves over the loot ka maal”.
Chouhan alleged that even before 2003, when the BJP
formed the government in MP, “Mr Bantadhar” (as the BJP calls Digvijaya Singh)
looted and destroyed the entire State.
“Even during the 15-month rule, Kamal Nath ji turned
Madhya Pradesh into a centre of plundering. Now the dispute is only about who
will be the next to loot and how and who will get what type of share in it (the
booty). Delhi is also involved in this,” Chouhan alleged.
Nath then took to X for a retort. “Shivraj ji, it was
Jai and Veeru who settled scores with the tyrannical Gabbar Singh. Madhya
Pradesh has been suffering from atrocities for 18 years. The time has come for
the end of tyranny. Rest you are sensible…” Reacting to Chouhan’s remark,
Singh said it’s better to leave all this and focus on the main issues.
“For the last 20 years, they (the BJP Government)
looted the State the way Gabbar Singh used to loot. Don’t get into it. Issues
are not Jai-Veeru or Gabbar Singh. The issue is that in the last 20 years,
people are too tired because of their corruption, falsehood, cheating and scams
like Vyapam and the recent patwari exam and unemployment,” he said.
The BJP asserted they have pulled up MP from the
BIMARU (laggard) State category but nothing happened if one looks at the health
and the education sector in the state, said Singh.
“During the Corona crisis, a large number of people
died because of non-availability of oxygen. Instead of talking in a filmy
style, they should focus on the main issues in the elections,” Singh said.
State BJP president Vishnu Dutt Sharma blamed the
Congress for introducing Sholay’s characters in the State politics during
elections.
“I have been talking about development and poor
welfare and this (Jai Veeru) was given by them only as their in-charge had
taken these names. Congress only does one thing… to deviate people’s attention
from the issues of development and poor people’s welfare,” Sharma said.
PTI
