BJP Sasaram MLA Jawahar Prasad. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, March 7: “Siyarammai sab jag jaani; karahu pranaam jori jugpani (The entire world is immersed in the aura of Sita and Ram; I salute them with folded hands)”. Jawahar Prasad, in his inimitable style, hummed this couplet from Ramcharit Manas — Tulsi Das’s magnum opus — while speaking on the budget in the Bihar Assembly today.

It was not that the BJP MLA from Sasaram had invoked Rama or Sita for the first time in the House. He chants Jai Shriram at the top of his voice while starting or concluding almost all his speeches and that too in presence of chief minister Nitish Kumar, who is believed to have an anathema to the chanting of this slogan, which is virtually forbidden to the politics he pursues.

A bearded MLA, Jawahar, wears saffron robes and always sports long vermillion tikka on his forehead. In his appearance, he can even beat Ram birthplace liberation movement leader and former BJP MP Mahant Avaidyanath, Uma Bharti and Sadhvi Ritambhara. And perhaps, he can beat them in lungpower too in chanting the slogan with his strong physic and robust voice. Jawahar virtually looks more like a sadhu than legislator.

It was a debate in the progress on the budgetary demand of the health department during the post lunch session of the House. But the BJP MLA from Sasaram had hardly to speak anything on the health department and its budget. Rather he brought into the play the tales of Vedas, Ramayana and other mythological treatises to carry on in his own way.

While Bihar health minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey, who happens to be from the BJP, stayed engrossed in some pieces of paper, other members on treasury as well as opposition benches were visibly bemused when Prasad unleashed his sermons: “Ramayana have only two things to say Dukh dene se dukh hota hai, sukh dene se sukh (If you unleash grief on others you will be aggrieved and if you give happiness to others you will be happy).

At every available opportunity in the House, he stands to describe Nitish as Ram and deputy chief minister, Sushil Kumar Modi as Hanuman. He invariably refers the women members sitting in the treasury benches as Sita maata. And Nitish who, otherwise, hardly relishes the company of Rambhakts (Ram devotees) is either seen smiling at Jawahar’s speech punctuated with Ram and Sita or ignoring him. And the treasury bench women referred to as Sita maata by Jawahar include Parveen Amanullah, the social welfare minister and daughter of Syed Shahabuddin, a crusader for the rebuilding of Babri mosque at Ram’s birthplace.

“You are telling great things. But your words hardly have any relevance to the House’s proceedings,” remarked a member. Amanullah and several other women members, including Punam Devi and Guddi Devi, first smiled and then lowered their faces beneath their table when Jawahar said: “Aap sab meri Sita maata hain (All of you are my Sita maata).”

“He (Jawahar) seldom speaks a word on the issue he is supposed to speak. He just makes a mockery of the proceedings,” remarked an MLA from his own party outside the House. Incidentally, chief minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy were not present when Jawahar was speaking today. But it hardly makes a difference for Jawahar speaks in the same fashion even in their presence.

Replying to the query as to why does Nitish tolerate Jawahar chanting Jai Shriram or invoking Ram even in course of the debate on something as serious as budget or budgetary demands from the government departments, a BJP legislator said: “Jawahar has no communal intention. He has a hilarious persona who loves chanting Ramcharit Manas and humming kirtan without the motive to hurt other communities.”

To drive his point home, the MLA pointed out that no Muslim legislator had so far opposed Jawahar posing as Rambhakt or chanting Jai Shriram. “Everyone enjoys the way Jawahar speaks. In fact, similar to the conversation which was in vogue during the “godly days”, Jawahar refers the Speaker as “Hey Adhyaksh maharajji” instead of Mr Speaker Sir or adhyaksh mahoday as his other colleagues say.