This story is from August 20, 2016

When a 'Ravana' held BJP flag at Tiranga Yatra

Bhartiya Janata Party's link with Ramlala is well known but in Lucknow, a 'Ravana' holds the saffron flag high. On Friday, when BJP leaders including union minister for health and family welfare JP Nadda paid homage to freedom fighters who died in war of 1857 during the ongoing Tiranga Yatra, 'Ravana' raised nationalist slogans.
When a 'Ravana' held BJP flag at Tiranga Yatra
Bhartiya Janata Party's link with Ramlala is well known but in Lucknow, a 'Ravana' holds the saffron flag high. On Friday, when BJP leaders including union minister for health and family welfare JP Nadda paid homage to freedom fighters who died in war of 1857 during the ongoing Tiranga Yatra, 'Ravana' raised nationalist slogans.
LUCKNOW: Bhartiya Janata Party's link with Ramlala is well known but in Lucknow, a 'Ravana' holds the saffron flag high.
On Friday, when BJP leaders including union minister for health and family welfare JP Nadda paid homage to freedom fighters who died in war of 1857 during the ongoing Tiranga Yatra, 'Ravana' raised nationalist slogans.
He also read out several poems in dramatic manner to keep the enthusiasm l of workers high.
One of the poems, '15 august yeh kehta hai hamse ki azadi abhi adhoori hai' was in fact penned by Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1977. And this one challenged the success of BJP's predecessors over the past decades.
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File photo of Lankesh in action.
The 'Ravana' is actually Vishnu Tripathi, an actor who has been playing the role of Ravana in Ram Lila for the past 38 years. Contributing to the party’s Tiranga Yatra Cell, Tripathi would go to all public addresses and keep the audience entertained till the main speaker arrives.
His association with BJP dates back to the times it was known as Jan Sangh. "I was a minor at that time and was sent to model jail in connection with bhoomi bhavan kar andolan wherein 133 workers were jailed," recalled Tripathi.

Tripathi was given the title of Lankesh by former governor Vishnu Kant Shastri for playing it with full conviction. Thereafter, his popularity as Lankesh has overshadowed his personality so much that very few people know his first name.
In 1999, Lankesh got an idol of Ravana installed in a temple and started worshipping the virtues in him.
"Sita-haran (kidnapping of Sita) was the only wrong Ravan did... otherwise, he was a scholar par excellence and don't our religious texts tell us to see the best in a person so why not regard someone in whom there is no dearth of good qualities," reasons Tripathi.
Talking about Tiranga Yatra, he said, “the effort should not be seen as just a political event. It reminds us about how much everyone has contributed to achieve freedom and will help younger generation value it more.”
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About the Author
Shailvee Sharda

Journalist with the Times of India since August 2004, Shailvee Sharda writes on Health, Culture and Politics. Having covered the length and breadth of UP, she brings stories that define elements like human survival and its struggle, faiths, perceptions and thought processes that govern the decision making in everyday life, during big events such as an election, tangible and non-tangible cultural legacy and the cost and economics of well-being. She keenly follows stories that celebrate hope and life in general.

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