NEW DELHI, February 8: It was the longest five minute wait for the residents of Raghubir Nagar in Rajouri Garden. The stage was set for the show, and minutes rolled into hours. But the showman who was coming to seek votes for Sushma Swaraj was nowhere in sight.Shatrughan Sinha arrived five hours late, ran his fingers through his hair in filmi style and said: Bahut jaan hain Raghubir Nagarwalon mein. The crowd went into a frenzy and forgave him for the delay. Swaraj's hour-long speech, a valiant attempt to hold the crowd, remained unfinished when Shatru arrived. People were eager to hear whatever he wanted to say. Be it making a dig at political bigwigs or a one-liner in Bhojpuri. Laloo Yadav was termed the "Shakal aur akal ka lallu" and Chacha Sitaram Kesri was the "nakli Bihari" as Atal Behari was the real one.
But for the crowd, nothing other than Shatru himself mattered. Their hero was there in flesh and blood, and he was seeking votes for the BJP. "We will give him the votes," theysaid.
The film star made sure he got them with dollops of one-liners laced with rhetoric. He reminded them that he was their Bihari Babu, and the Biharis cheered. He addressed them as pyare pyare bhaiyon aur sundar sundar behenon, and women went berserk.
There was no serious politics to spoil the fun. Swaraj had already done the latter when she took a dig at Sonia Gandhi, and reminded the crowd of unkept promises by the Congress leaders and recited the BJP manifesto. But the crowd sighed and craned their necks even further towards the backstage entrance to see if the their hero had arrived. Sushma went on for many reasons. Shatru's delay being most important, but the fact that Rajouri Garden was Congress candidate Ajay Maken's Assembly constituency, was just as vital. She knew that she had to earn their approval to defeat the sitting MLA. She spoke at length about the '84 riots and the sufferings of the Sikh women. But soon, the gathering, including hundreds of children, voiced theirimpatience. "We have come to see Shatru." When he arrived, a child screamed: Hato, mujhe Shatrughan Sinha ka mu dekhne do.
The show was for Sushma, but it was not hers. "Shotgun" Shatru had stolen the show and their hearts as well.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
