Festival makes performers of Assam’s politicians

AGP: “Rongali Bihu is when trees change leaves, and people ring in the new by shedding the old. We have been likening the election to Bihu, asking the people to shed the old and vote for change,” says Atul Bora, AGP working president. The AGP has been playing Bhupen Hazarika verses that say this season is when the nation takes a holy dip and changes out of dirty clothes.

BJP: Prasanta Phukan is a legislator who occasionally sings Bihu couplets even during debates in the assembly. He too is playing on the old-to-new metaphor. “We discard the old and welcome the new. I have used this metaphor and appealed to voters.”

CONGRESS: The party has been getting troupes to perform at rallies before the star campaigners’ arrival. “If you hire the best troupe headed by internationally famed artiste Ranjit Gogoi, then a 30-minute performance by a 20-member contingent might cost you up to Rs 1 lakh, depending on the venue,” says PCC general secretary Pradyut Bhuyan.