Thirty years ago Anosh Ekka must have been a six-year-old brat. I recall some of us, including Dr Ram Dayal Munda and Dr B.P. Kesri, huddled around a table in The New Republic office and doing the costing for a seminar on Jharkhand we wanted to hold.

The total estimate, I remember, came to just about Rs 7,000 and that included reimbursement of conveyance to around 30 participants, lunch and other expenses.

We failed to raise the amount and the seminar was never held. Around the same time, Shibu Soren had become an MP for the first time and he used to stay in the NCDC (National Coal Development Corporation but later CCL) guesthouse, diagonally opposite where the SBI regional office is situated today, next to the collectorate.

This columnist vividly remembers Soren wondering aloud over the princely sum of Rs 7 charged by the guesthouse for a generous breakfast. Soren had recalled days when he had to survive on Rs 2 a day — and here he was spending Rs 7 for breakfast alone! This writer also recalls Justin Richard, who spoke impeccable English and was for a brief period the forests minister of Bihar, narrating how a starved Soren had reached his house one night, looking for food.

One does not know if Ekka ever starved or not. But people do say that he would squat and sell vegetables and eggs at a village haat around a decade ago.

Soren and Ekka have come a long way since then. They now fly in choppers, have personal wealth valued in crores and have houses in several cities. The “sacrifices” they have made for Jharkhand have not, after all, gone in vain. Indeed, Jharkhand appears to have repaid them many times over.

But one is certain that unlike Soren, Ekka never went to jail. One is not, therefore, sure about the nature of his sacrifices.

At a time when Jharkhand was still a distant dream, this writer had heard Ram Dayal Munda admonish Suraj Singh Besra. Sarju, Dr Munda had said, learn first to bear beatings by the police (lathi khana seekho) before behaving like the masters of Jharkhand. One wonders if Ekka has ever been at the receiving end of those sticks.

But yet, here is this man, by all accounts a clever man, organising a lavish feast to celebrate his son’s birthday. He himself claims to have fed 50,000 people and even if one assumes that the caterers charged him Rs 100 per head, the cost of food alone would have come to Rs 50 lakh.

Judging by the menu, the caterers would have charged at least double that rate. Mutton, chicken, paneer, dal makhani, pulao, fried rice, puris, naan and of course, desserts — would not have come for less than that.

It is hard to swallow Ekka blowing away Rs 1 crore on a birthday. But politicians being politicians, the minister is sure to claim that he did not spend a penny. His constituents demonstrated their affection for him by showering gifts, he is sure to inform the income-tax department.

He will not be the first politician to get away with such claims. Tapeshwar Singh, the cooperative baron of Bihar, was reported to have explained away his wealth by claiming that his constituents had voluntarily gifted him Rs 10,000 each! And the rags to riches case of Lalu Prasad is, too recent to bear repetition.

So, while Ekka is likely to receive a notice from the income-tax department, he is unlikely to be slapped with a disproportionate assets case. While lesser mortals have gone to jail for their failure to explain how they acquired assets worth Rs 1 lakh, politicians are generally deemed to be above the law.

So, why shouldn’t Ekka be left alone?

Given the background of the Jharkhand movement, this writer is not sure if he should rejoice at Ekka’s good fortune.

How many 35-year-olds can afford to spend a cool crore on a son’s birthday or a daughter’s wedding?

Should it be specially gratifying that a tribal youth has acquired the muscle to flaunt such wealth?

Tribals, after all, have traditionally been seen as impoverished. Even foreign-educated tribal leaders like Jaipal Singh, Kartik Oraon or Ram Dayal Munda have never splurged like Ekka has done. One also suspects that they never had the kind of money Ekka has access to.

It gets worse if one assumes that Ekka actually allowed transporters, contractors, BDOs etc. to spend money for the lavish birthday bash.

Why would they do it in the first place? And if they did, what can be the quid-pro-quo? What kind of a minister is Ekka?

And more importantly, can this state trust him with governance?

It is far more easy to acquire a fortune like a fool, it is said, than to learn how to spend it like a gentleman. Ekka should use his clout to get Simdega a decent hospital, a few decent colleges and polytechnics and create employment opportunities for the youth.

He should also be reminded of what the Bible says. “He that maketh haste to be rich, shall not be innocent.” But although the late 1960s had reverberated with the slogan, “Gali-gali me shor hai/ K.B. Sahay chor hai”, thieves since then have acquired respectability, wealth and even more political clout.

So, who are we to object?