To tremble or not during earthquake

Ever since a television channel beamed images of Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary rushing out of a function during the April 25 quake, politicians have been careful about media coverage during tremors. On Tuesday, BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi was addressing a news meet when the fresh tremors struck. He chose to sit it out when he realised that cameras were on.

"It has nothing to do with bravery. Modiji did not want the TV channels to show him running during the quake," said a BJP leader. Chief minister Nitish Kumar did not have a TV channel zooming in on him but he confessed to going out in the open as a precaution against the quake. The best story of the day was, however, reserved for Ramdhani Singh. The health minister was about to address a function with social welfare minister Lesie Singh in the auditorium of an upscale Patna hotel when Tuesday's tremors were felt. Both ministers rushed out of the hall. Lesie came back after the quake but Ramdhani simply refused to re-enter the hall. The event was cut short as the minister left the venue.

Prophetic Manjhi

The joke doing the rounds in political circles is that former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi is turning out to be prophetic. Manjhi had described the proposed merger of the Janata parivar as mahapralay (great catastrophe) instead of mahavilay (great reunion). "Every time the merger issue heats up, there are tremors," remarked one BJP MLA, recalling that even on April 25, Nitish Kumar had flown to Delhi for talks with Lalu Prasad and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on the proposed merger. The chief minister had to rush back to Patna after reports of devastation and death started coming in from across the state. "We have seen Bihar being hit by unseasonal rain, storms and a series of earthquakes whenever the merger talks warm up. Even the forces of nature do not want the merger to happen," said the BJP leader.

Lalu loses cool

The earthquake has come handy for RJD chief Lalu Prasad, who was shying away from the media on making comments on the failure of JDU and his party to merge. After Samajwadi Party's Ram Gopal Yadav denied chances of the Janata merger going through before the Bihar Assembly polls, Lalu made a brief statement of sitting with the leaders to discuss the issue. On Tuesday when mediapersons approached Lalu for a comment on the merger, he lost his cool. "There is a mahapralay (catastrophe) and you people can only think of the merger," he hit back at the mediapersons, ordering them to leave his residence. An RJD leader said he appears to have developed cold feet on the merger and the quake came at the right time.

Victim of politics

The official residence of the Bihar chief minister, 1 Aney Marg, continues to be occupied by Jitan Ram Manjhi and appears to lose its glory fast. "It wears a deserted look. There are no peons to offer tea to visitors. The kitchen employees have been transferred to 7 Circular Road, the residence of chief minister Nitish Kumar. Even the plants and trees so meticulously maintained under Nitish's eye are drying up, Dust has settled on the floors," said a politician who recently paid Manjhi a visit. He added that it would be better to hand over the house to the chief minister, stressing that one of the best-known addresses in the city has become a victim of politics between Nitish and Manjhi.