Jaswant Singh Gandam
PHAGWARA: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann uses repartees, humor, wit and ‘sher-o-shayari’ in order to spice up and embellish his speeches at rallies and roadshows he is holding at different places in support of party candidates in the current Lok Sabha general elections.
One such roadshow and rally were headed by him at Phagwara on 2 May in support of party candidate from Hoshiarpur(reserved) parliamentary seat Dr Raj Kumar Chabbewal.
Phagwara assembly segment is one of the nine segments falling in Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha constituency.
Addressing a rally at local Gandhi chowk, Mann quoted his favorite and noted Punjabi poet Surjit Pattar thus- “Je aayi patjhar tan pher ki ei tu agli rutt ch yakeen rakhin/Mei labh ke liauna kition Kalman tu phulan jogi zameen rakhin”(So what if Autumn season has come? Keep your trust in the next season.I find out from somewhere the grafting sticks for flowers but you should keep some land for flowers to bloom).
Reminiscing May Day(the preceding day of the roadshow ie 1st May) celebrations, Mann told a cheering audience that as a college student he used to take part in inter-college poetical recitation contests and used to bag gold medal by singing famous song penned and sung by revolutionary Punjabi poet Sant Ram Udasi.
He quoted the opening lines of the song– “Ma dhartiye teri gaud nu chan hor bathere/Tu maghda rahin ve surja kammyian de vehre”(O mother land! You have many more moons for your lap/O Sun! You should keep warming up the foreyards of the downtrodden and the marginalized ones).
Pointing to over a hundred year old Peepal tree standing at a corner of the chowk, Mann told the very responsive audience that the tree could withstand storms and rains and vagaries of weather because of its robust roots.
Then he went to quote a popular Punjabi folklore line for hammering home his point that a change was in the air-“Pippal diya pattiya ve! Kiyon khar khar layi aa/Patt jhare purane,rutt naviyan di aayi aa”(O leaf of the Peepal tree, why are you making a rattling sound? Old leaves have fallen down and the season of new budding leaves have arrived).
He told the audience metaphorically that the One who gives ‘chunjh’(beak) also gives ‘choga’(feed)!
Earlier, elsewhere, Mann asserted through a couplet-“Hum voh patte nahin jo hava mei ud jate hain/Andhiyon se kaho apni aukat mei rahein”(We are not like those leaves which fly away with the wind/Ask the storms to remain in their feeble capacity).
He promises people for meeting them again with these poetic lines-“Log kehte hai ke zinda rahe tau phir milenge,Mai kehta hunk e milte rahe tau zinda rahenge”(People say that they will meet each other again in case they remained alive/But I say that we will remain alive if we keep on meeting each other).
He concluded his speech with an interactive slogan by raising the first line and pleading with the audience to raise the second line-“Punjab banega hero,13-Zero,13-Zero”(Punjab will become hero by (AAP) winning all the 13 Lok Sabha seats).
Then taking to task his political opponents for their personal attacks on him, Mann called upon people to silence these motor-mouths by fulfilling his Mission of 13-0 by voting for Aam Admi Party candidates on June first.
He alleged that these motor-mouths could not digest the fact that sons and daughters of common man have become CM/Ministers/MLAs in Punjab.
Without naming anyone, he said,” My opponents keep saying nonsensical things against me on daily basis. They are afraid and unnerved. They also say so many unsavory things on certain matters that some of them have to tender apologies.”
Claiming that there was a halt to the exodus of Punjabi youths to foreign shores, the CM asserted that as a matter of fact there was a trend of reverse migration of youths now.
He said,” I have given 43000 jobs on merit. I get telephones daily in which youths inform me that they have cancelled their programme of going abroad.”
“When jobs are available in Punjab, why to go abroad by leaving your native land and face hardships abroad” ,he remarked.
He accused Akalis,Congress and BJP of looting Punjab.
When some peoples from public raised demand of upgrading Phagwara to the status of district, Mann nodded in affirmative and also said,”Jo lok kehnge,karange’.
Chabewal thanked people.
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