Holi brings a colourful break for netas

LUCKNOW: Holi will bring a role reversal for ministers of the Modi cabinet who till Wednesday were busy in heated debates in Parliament. The festival will bring out the lighter side of the leaders.
Most of them plan to be in their constituencies celebrating Holi with the electorate in their own style.
Minister of state for parliamentary affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi says he will not mind singing and dancing to the beats of dhol.
Naqvi said he dances to dhol beats every Holi and this time wouldn’t be different. “Holi is a colourful festival. I will not just sing but also beat a dhol,” he said, and added he would go to the PM’s residence to greet him. From there, he would go to party patriarch LK Advani’s residence.
Union cabinet minister Kalraj Misra, who this time would remain in Delhi, said he would play Holi with children at his residence and meet people who would visit him. Minister of state for human resource development Ramshanker Katheria says he will celebrate Holi in Braj style.
Though the festival has given MPs a break from political debates in the ongoing budget session of the Parliament, some of them added political hues to Holi wishes. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, while extending wishes to the public, rasied the issue of farmers losing their crop due to inclement weather.
“Holi ka hurdang (revelry on the festival),” she said, keeps her indoors but not cut off as people come to greet her at her ashram.
Katheria, on the other hand, will distribute his time between family, friends and acquaintances. While morning celebration will be over ‘dhol’ and ‘manjeera’, the evening would be reserved for ‘Holi milan’, he said.
MLA from Thana Bhawan Suresh Rana’s day will begin at 7am. Adding flavour to his celebration will be spicy ‘pakoras’. “There will be song and dance and celebration will go on till late till night,” he said.
When asked what type of Holi he prefers playing, Union minister of state for agriculture Sanjiv Baliyan said, “Jo bhi rang jo laga de. Muzaffarnagar ki raajneeti mein logon ki hi maani jaati hai neta ki chalti kahan hai (whatever colour people will want to apply, they can. In Muzaffarnagar, the public rules, not netas).”