THREATENED BY LAND SHARKS, DHRUPAD MAESTRO’S FAMILY PLANS TO LEAVE BIHAR

PATNA: “Threatened” by land sharks and upset with the “Darbhanga district administration’s apathy”, family members of Dhrupad exponent of yesteryears, late Pt Ram Chatur Mallick, are planning to migrate from

Bihar. “We do not have any other option. Land grabbers have occupied our ancestral property at Gangadah village (Darbhanga district) and even blocked the pathway which leads to our house. The matter was taken to the district administration last year, but nothing has been done,” said the family members of Mallick, the founder of the Darbhanga gharana of the

Dhrupad tradition, one of the oldest genres of Hindustani vocal music, and the first musician of Bihar to receive Padma Shri. “The land sharks are now threatening us of dire consequences if we keep pursuing the matter with the district administration,” Vijay Kumar Mallick, one of the two grandsons of the Dhrupad singer, said. “Hum Apni Jaan Ki Chintaa Karen Ya Zameen Ki (For us it’s a choice between protecting our lives or property)? How can we protect our land when our lives are threatened? Many musicians have already migrated and now it seems to be our turn,” Vijay Kumar Mallick said. NEWDELHI: Rahul Gandhi, who is set to take over as the Congress president, faces the challenge of reviving and rebuilding the party ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

To execute his long-term plan, 47-year-old Rahul’s first task will be a revamp of the party.

Congress leaders suggest he would go for an overhaul, completing a generational shift in the 131-year-old party brought about by his elevation.

His mother, Sonia Gandhi, who took over the reins of the party in March 1998, has served as the Congress chief for record 19 years.

He will have to ensure that the transition is smooth by striking a right balance between young leaders and the old guard, which in the past had some reservations about his style of functioning.

In his nearly five years as the Congress vice-president, Rahul had tried to open the party to end the heirloom politics but didn’t make much headway.

As party chief, the Amethi MP would have the authority to bring about the changes.

His training in Aikido – Gandhi has a black belt in the Japanese martial art that lays emphasis on harmony – will come in handy.

He also has to lead from the front to galvanise an otherwise demoralised Congress cadre struggling to recover after a series of electoral setbacks.

Though the change of guard is happening after two decades, Rahul is confronted with a situation almost similar to what his mother had faced when she took over in 1998.

Apart from internal dissensions, the party then was ruling just four states of Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Mizoram and Nagaland.

But i n six years, Sonia brought the Congress back to the centre-stage of country’s polity and was instrumental in the