Hanumans who stray
JDU member of Legislative Council (MLC) Sanjay Singh recently bumped into Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan at a local newspaper's function. Sanjay, once a self-proclaimed "Hanuman" of the Union minister, had crossed over from Ram Vilas Paswan to Nitish Kumar when the former was still an ally of Lalu. The JDU spokesperson hurriedly touched Paswan's feet before coming across BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav. The BJP leader was amused to see Paswan blessing Sanjay. "Sanjay is an old chela (disciple) of yours. You should eat him up," Yadav joked. Sanjay daily issues a statement against the NDA in general and Sushil Kumar Modi in particular. "But why blame only Sanjay for being a Hanuman gone astray? Shyam Rajak, Bhim Singh, Ram Kripal Yadav and so many others professed to being Hanumans of some leader or the other at some point of time. During the 1970s, the late Raj Narain claimed to be late Charan Singh's Hanuman only to curse him later. It's an old tradition," remarked a senior politician, stressing that political commitment to any person or party is getting very fickle.
The CM-in-waiting
The BJP may not have projected poster boy Sushil Kumar Modi as its chief ministerial candidate in the Assembly polls, but NDA leaders seem to have no illusions about who the "CM-in-waiting" is. In a full-page advertisement given to the vernacular press, the former deputy chief minister's photograph is the first from among NDA leaders in Bihar. At an iftar party at former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's residence, all NDA leaders - former ministers, MLAs and former MLAs - were vying with each other for his attention. Even RLSP, LJP and HAMS workers were crowding around him. "You can just look at his body language and know he is our chief ministerial candidate. It is an unwritten agreement," said a dissident JDU MLA present on the occasion.
The voice of dissent
RJD leader and former Union minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh has been silent for a long time. But on Thursday he broke his silence to criticise Nitish Kumar for featuring just himself in the hoardings dominating vantage points in the city. He said alliances are not run the way Nitish is doing, keeping Lalu at an arm's length. A senior JDU leader reacted saying: "Raghuvansh babu is saying what BJP national president Amit Shah had said, that the JDU-RJD alliance is one which does not want to be seen with each other. With friends like Raghuvansh babu one does not need enemies."
Kejriwal and Nitish
The signs of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar warming up to each other and the possibility of Kejriwal campaigning for JDU candidates does not appear to have worried NDA leaders. "Even Barack Obama will not be able to help Nitish Kumar if he comes to Bihar to campaign for him," said a BJP leader. "Nitish can call every president in the world. It will not help," remarked a dissident JDU leader, recalling that all AAP candidates in the last Lok Sabha had lost their deposits. "Even the Biharis who voted for him in the last Delhi Assembly polls will not vote for Nitish, even if Kejriwal says so," remarked an LJP leader.
