Grand shows in past, nukkad nataks now entertain voters in Hry

Kurukshetra/Karnal: The Election Commission’s strict check on candidates’ expenses has brought grand entertainment performances at political rallies to an end in Haryana and made parties fall back on good-old nukkad nataks to put their message across to voters while not burning a hole in the pocket.
Haryana is set go to polls on October 21. Till some years ago, election rallies in Haryana meant dance and song performances to keep voters from leaving the venue before the arrival of the organising party’s star campaigners.
The entertainers ranged from top Ragini performers to popular Haryanavi singers.Apart from the EC’s check on expenses, candidates are also staying away from organising such events to avoid controversies.
Now, instead of hiring dancers and singers, political parties are hiring young actors to perform “nukkad nataks” (street plays), which glorify candidates and their parties in an entertaining way.
The troupes, which largely hail from New Delhi, perform at a prominent public space, be it the main market of a town or the chaupal of a village. “Haryana picked up this form campaigning from the Delhi assembly elections. We are hired by the headquarters of political parties. They take requirements from each constituency and deploy us accordingly. Since manifestoes have already been released, it becomes easy for us to prepare our scripts. We have common scripts and each is then customized according to the area, candidate and party,” says Mohammad Akhtar, head of a troupe performing in Kurukshetra.
These troupes are paid somewhere between Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,000 for each show, which lasts between five and ten minutes. Each troupe is required to stage between six and 10 such shows each day at pre-decided venues.
Traditionally, Ragini singers, if sourced locally, would be paid less — Rs 500 or so — and kept happy with perks like bidis and a small amount of alcohol. However, big ticket Ragini events could cost anything between Rs 25,000 and Rs 8 lakh, depending on the performer.
Raginis would also see a bit of innovation as some came to be known for poll campaigns.
“Like our troupe, our friends and colleagues are performing across the state,” says Akhtar. “We only perform after the organiser takes appropriate permissions,” he adds.
His fellow artist Prabha says their troupe has performed similarly in Delhi, Rajasthan and Bihar too.
These troupes may be in demand in urban areas, but the situation Haryana’s countryside is still the same. “They (nukkad natak actors) are modern-day baazigars. They pull the crowd and are liked by youngsters and urban voters. However, rural voters still look forward to bhajan mandlis or folk artists,” says Hamir Singh, a resident of Karnal.
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Nukkad natak troupes are paid somewhere between `1,500 and `2,000 for each show, which lasts between five and ten minutes
Each troupe is required to stage between six and 10 such shows each day at pre-decided venues
Traditionally, Ragini singers, if sourced locally, would be paid less — even `500 or so — and kept happy with perks like bidis and a small amount of alcohol
However, big ticket Ragini events could cost from `25,000 to up `8 lakh
Two major reasons behind parties shifting to nukkad natas is the expense and the fact that they are non-controversial, unlike Ragini performers and local singers