‘Phag’ jibe on paddy damage by rats colours House in Holi satire

Raipur: With Holi still days away, colour spilled early into the Chhattisgarh assembly, not from gulal, but from a burst of folk satire that turned the assembly atmosphere briefly theatrical. Former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Thursday struck the first satirical note of a traditional Phag song, he broke into a Chhattisgarhi verse that mocked the Vishnu Deo Sai govt over the Kabirdham paddy controversy — where grain reportedly worth crores was damaged by rats."Vishnu, de de bullava muswa ko… muswa bin ghotala na hoye…" he sang, loosely implying that "without a rat, there can be no scam." The BJP chose not to let the tune linger unanswered. Matching tone with tone, state spokesperson Amit Chimanani fired back with his own Phag-style verse, flipping the metaphor to target the Congress. In his counter-song, the "rats" were already caught, some jailed, some out on bail, in liquor and coal scams that the ruling party continues to wield as its political refrain.The moment blended Holi's folk irreverence with sharp assembly politics. For the Congress, the "muswa" metaphor was a cultural jab wrapped around the storage and procurement of paddy.This happened soon after the zero hour when the opposition mounted a noisy protest over paddy procurement and pending payments.