Poetry and politics make strange bedfellows

HYDERABAD: " Kavita and rajneeti saath saath nehi chalti" (Poetry and politics don't go hand in hand') - Poet-politician Atal Behari Vajpayee.
Some poetry is political, some politics is poetry. Witty jibes, humour and sarcasm works in poetry as much as in political speeches. Both often exist on two opposite ends but have a strong interconnection - both use the art of persuasion to attain perfection.Poets use their writings as a vehicle to express their political lament. Politicians use the works of poets in their art of rhetoric - the left or the right of political spectrum.

'Haar nahi manunga', the former PM, a master orator, would regale his audience in the Parliament or on public forum by invoking his poetry. It's amazing to see how far politicians go to use the work of poets for effect on electoral masses or as charm offensive to take poetic shots at their opponents.
" Hum ko maaloom hai Cheen ki haqeeqat, lekin dil ko khush rakhne ko Modi yeh khayaal achcha hai" (We know the reality of China, but Modi's idea to keep himself happy is good). Asaduddin Owaisi tweaked Mirza Ghalib's famous couplet to take on the Prime Minister on China issue. The original Ghalib saying was, " Hum ko maaloom hai jannat ki haqeeqat lekin dil ke khush rakhney ko Ghalib ye khayaal achhaa hai."
" Har ek baat pe kahte ho ki tu kya hai, tumhi kaho ke Andaaz-e-Guftagu kya hai," (In every dialogue of mine, you say "what are you." You tell me what kind of dialogue interchange is this?) said Rahul Gandhi in Bahraich speech, a poetic jibe at Modi.
India's darling ' Didi', calls herself ' Bidhrohi Kobi' (revolutionary poet). Read this: Do you listen to Mann ki Baat, Do you write against the ruler?, Does your phone have Aadhaar?, Are you a member of the 'Pay-B-Team'?, Have you registered all documents?
There's a long tradition of political activism in Telugu poetry; examples include Srirangam Srinivasa Rao (Sri Sri), Kaloji Narayana Rao and Maqdhoom Mohiuddin who used the medium to oppose the ravages of capitalism and the perils of divisive sectarian politics, intolerance or dogmatism.
Poets have often been the muse of politicians in two Telugu speaking states. Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's (a post-graduate in Telugu literature) love for Telugu and Urdu poetry too is well known. From Sri Sri to Cinare (C Narayana Reddy), KCR extensively uses poetry to charm his audience. His son KT Rama Rao, TRS working president, often invokes Dasaradhi Krishnamacharyulu's ' Na Telangana Koti Ratanala Veena' (My Telangana is a veena with crores of diamonds) on multiple occasions, promising a prosperous Telangana on all fronts. Dasaradhi was hugely influenced by Marxist ideology, the Telangana peasants' armed struggle against the tyrant Nizam was inspired by his thought and writings.
Jana Sena Party president Pawan Kalyan went a step ahead. The actor-turned politician begins his manifesto with Jnanpeeth awardee Gunturu Seshendra Sarma's ' Adhunika Mahabharatam' poem. Seshendra Sarma, born in Nellore, was the only other Indian after Rabindranath Tagore to be nominated for the Nobel prize in literature.
For verse or better, poetry and politics make strange bedfellows.