Modi effect in Assembly

The Modi effect is showing in the Assembly with a lot of MLAs sporting colourful jackets.

Leading the pack is Leader of Opposition Nand Kishore Yadav. The colour of his jackets keeps changing - from purple to green to... Parliamentary affairs minister Shrawan Kumar triggered laughter in the House when he walked in sporting a pink jacket. "You appear to have been impressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi," said a BJP MLA, recalling the colour (pink) of then Gujarat chief minister's dress at the Hunkar Rally in 2013. Shrawan gave a sheepish smile. The older generation of politicians said popular leaders were always imitated. "When Lalu Prasad started wearing kurtas with checks, his followers started imitating him. Some politicians even imitate Nitish Kumar's hair style," said a Congress leader.

Sir, behave in front of children

Chaos and disruptions during proceedings frequently defeat the purpose of Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary's initiative of inviting school students to the House. Often children - sitting in the visitors' gallery - see MLAs screaming. The Speaker's plea that schoolchildren were observing them and they should behave hardly has any effect on the lawmakers. The BJP legislators have been repeatedly entering the Well of the House and stalling proceedings in this session. When they were in the Well of the House recently protesting against irregularities in foodgrain purchase, the speaker again reminded them about "children watching" them. "The children won't mind. Some of their parents are farmers, whose foodgrain are lying unsold. The children will approve our conduct," said the Leader of Opposition, Nand Kishore Yadav.

Manjhi flip-flops puzzle supporters

Jitan Ram Manjhi was known for his flip-flop statements when he was the chief minister. Out of power, he has remained the same and the JDU leaders are still confused. "He initially said he would contest 125 of the 243 Assembly seats. Now, he is saying he will contest all the 243 seats. He had initially said he would have an alliance with the BJP. Now he is saying he is open to alliance with any political party after the polls. He criticises chief minister Nitish Kumar but declares that he is very much in the JDU," said a JDU MLA before a Manjhi supporter stressed that the former chief minister had confused them as well. "He has managed to confuse even us," said the Manjhi supporter.

Give up, Pappu

There is no surprise in dissident RJD MP Rajiv Ranjan writing letters to Lalu Prasad, asking him to support Jitan Ram Manjhi. What is surprising is Lalu never opens the letters kept on his table. "The letters are opened by his supporters. But Lalu ji never shows interest in hearing the content of the letters," said a close associate of the RJD chief. When Lalu marched to Raj Bhavan against the land acquisition bill, he came across Pappu. But the RJD chief simply refused to acknowledge the greetings of the MP. "It's time Pappu gave up because Laluji has already given up on him," said a senior RJD leader.