Holi politics

 

This year politics appears to have made an entry into Holi with three former ministers of the erstwhile Jitan Ram Manjhi government deciding not to celebrate the festival as a protest against chief minister Nitish Kumar's decision to nix 33 decisions taken by his predecessor. Politicians recall how they miss the "big Holi" held at RJD chief Lalu Prasad's house. Nitish didn't celebrate Holi on Friday as a respect to the departed Ram Sundar Das. But politicians say they haven't missed much. "The Holi celebrated at the residence of Nitish Kumar is a stiff affair. It includes the rituals of greeting Nitish with folded hands and at most, people put gulal on the face of each other. At Lalu's bash, most of us used to lose our clothes and had to spend one week washing away the colours from our bodies. There was no politics," recalled a senior politician. He lamented that Lalu's "kapra phaad" Holi was a thing of the past and not likely to be repeated as the RJD boss now prefers to celebrate in Delhi. Besides, Lalu now has several restrictions imposed on him owing to his heart surgery.

The kick is still there

 

Sadaquat Ashram - the state Congress headquarters and once a parallel power centre of Bihar - may have lost its earlier clout owing to the dwindling influence of the party in the state but old Congressmen insist that the "kick" is still there. They are referring to the scuffle that broke out inside the premises of the ashram a few days ago in which supporters of state party president Ashok Choudhary clashed with those loyal to a sacked district president. The police had to be called in. "It is nothing new. Earlier also, supporters of two senior party leaders exchanged blows inside the meeting hall of the ashram. In the 1970s, a senior leader had physically 'captured' the ashram by sending his goons," recalled a seasoned Congress leader, insisting that this was an integral part of the party. "It does not matter if we are in power or just a party having five MLAs in the House of 243."

Some loyalty, this

 

Madhepura RJD MP Pappu Yadav still refuses to call himself a "dissident". "I still consider Lalu Prasad as my supreme leader. I have always supported him. It's just that I do not want other leaders of the party to issue statements against me. These leaders are power-brokers," he remarked. RJD leaders are livid. "Pappu has been doing everything against Laluji's diktats. He actively campaigned for Manjhi when we were supposed to back Nitish to the hilt. He even convinced a few of our MLAs to vote for Manjhi if the vote took place. This is some loyalty he is showing. His words of loyalty ring hollow when he is actually out to damage the party," quipped a senior RJD leader.

Raghuvansh again

 

The statement of former Union minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh asking Nitish Kumar to induct Jitan Ram Manjhi as deputy chief minister has RJD leaders confused. This, in spite of a strong rejoinder from party leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui, who stressed that the former Union minister was expressing his personal opinion. "Raguvansh babu makes statements only when Laluji asks him to do so. Laluji had openly stated that Manjhi should be a part of the JDU. Now that Nitish is refusing to budge on the issue, perhaps Laluji is having second thoughts about the alliance," said a senior RJD leader, stressing that Raghuvansh has always been used by Lalu to create a political storm and then gauge the reaction.