Holi to miss political celebrations in Bihar

PATNA: Barring ideological differences, most political parties in Bihar are unanimous on not celebrating Holi this year to express solidarity with the families of the CRPF jawans martyred in the Pulwama terrorist attack. ‘Holi Milan’, a term popularly used for the celebrations of the festival of colours before its schedule, has had been an interesting affair for political parties every year.
RJD’s national spokesperson Manoj Jha made a formal announcement about not celebrating Holi after the party’s central parliamentary board meeting in Patna last week.

BJP state vice-president Devesh Kumar also said his party would not celebrate Holi this time. “We have decided not to celebrate Holi to express solidarity with the family members of our martyred jawans,” Devesh said.

JD(U) insiders also claimed that there would be no Holi celebrations either at the party office or the residence of CM Nitish Kumar.

Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) spokesperson HK Verma said all the district offices had been instructed about the decision of not organizing Holi Milan events. “An individual may celebrate Holi, but we as a party will not have any celebration,” he said.

RLSP national general secretary Fazal Imam Mallick and HAM(S) public relations officer Amrendra Kumar Tripathi also gave the same reason for not celebrating Holi this year.

Holi in political circles in Bihar has always been interesting, especially during election time. In fact, RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s kurta-phaad Holi was famous for its rustic style when RJD chief used to play dholak and apply colours to the visitors at his residence. But this is the second consecutive Holi when Lalu is in jail. Last year also, his family kept it a low-key affair as he was in jail and also because of his elder sister Gangotri Devi’s death.

It was in 2016 that Holi was celebrated with much fanfare in the political corridors in Bihar after the formation of Grand Alliance government in 2015. Interestingly, CM Nitish Kumar had organized a grand Holi milan at his residence, which was attended by Lalu and his sons Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejashwi Prasad Prasad. With smile on their faces, Lalu and Nitish, then more famous as bade bhai-chote bhai (elder brother and younger brother), were seen hugging each other tightly. In the evening, Lalu had also organized a get-together in his style with stage decked up with Bhojpuri singers. Nitish and his election strategist in 2015 Prashant Kishor had attended the celebrations.

In 2014, Lalu avoided any Holi celebration at his residence after the model code of conduct implementation for the 16th Lok Sabha polls then.