On the trot: Love for horses runs in family

On Friday, Lalu Prasad's oldest son and health minister Tej Pratap mounted a police horse and rode through the roads to his official residence. Journalists assembled in front of 10 Circular Road expecting to get shots of the son on horseback.

"We were surprised to see Tej Pratap in a car," said a journalist. "An alarmed Lalu Prasad had telephoned his security guards to ensure that Tej Pratap did not return home on a horse." Lalu's fondness for horses is well known. When he was chief minister he used to show off his horse to guests. "The love for horses appears to run in the family," remarked an RJD leader.

Big daddy

RJD chief Lalu Prasad believes in keeping a tight leash on not only his sons but their staff as well. Recently, the driver of one of his sons parked the car in a spot at the old secretariat slotted for the chief minister. Despite pleas by the security staff to park the car elsewhere, the driver refused to budge. "Suddenly a man appeared and scolded the driver and the driver instantly moved the car," said a member of the security force. "The man introduced himself as a staff off Lalu ji and said that he had been specifically kept to keep an eye in the staff of Laluji's sons. He told us to inform him if any of the staff of the sons created any problem."

Liquor and milk

When the government announced prohibition from April 1, liquor traders made a beeline to Lalu Prasad's house. "We voted for your son and now your government is snatching away our livelihood," complained a liquor trader from Raghopur, the Assembly seat represented by deputy chief minister Tejaswi. "Sell milk and curd instead," retorted Lalu. However, the trader remained adamant and Lalu lost his cool. He accused the trader of making the people alcoholic and threatened to send him to jail. The liquor traders then staged a protest outside 7 Circular Road, Nitish Kumar's residence.

Memory stick

When parliamentary affairs minister Shravan Kumar criticised the BJP suspending Kirti Azad, political observers smirked. Because in 2014, Shravan had played a key role in getting eight MLAs disqualified from the Bihar Assembly by petitioning the Speaker against them because they voted against their party's official candidates in the Rajya Sabha polls in protest against giving tickets to outsiders. "I suppose all politicians believe that public memory is short," remarked a JDU leader.