Poster pain for allies

RJD leaders are upset over state government posters - showing a smiling chief minister Nitish Kumar - welcoming pilgrims to Prakash Utsav.

"The chief minister should remember that he is leading a coalition government and we happen to be its largest partner," said an RJD leader to his friend.

He insisted that deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav's photograph should also have been there in the posters.

But BJP leaders are amused.

"The RJD leaders should have learnt from our experience," said a senior BJP leader.

"Nitish never allows his alliance partners to take credit for any work. Nitish bagged all credit for good work in the health and roads sectors - led by BJP ministers. Also, our deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi's photo was never on the hoardings."

Scan or scoot

Around 50 Sikh pilgrims recently alighted at Patna Junction to find four railway police constables wanting to check their bags for liquor.

Male members of the group refused to let the cops check their bags, unless done with a hand scanner. The cops tried to argue, leading to a heated exchange of words.

But the pilgrims stood their ground, telling the cops they would wait five minutes for them to get a hand scanner or else leave.

"Most of the pilgrims overshadowed the cops in height and physique and the cops thought it best not to pursue the matter further. But the police should not have insisted on looking for liquor. In such religious events, Sikhs keep off liquor," said an onlooker.

Bus puzzle

There is still confusion over how many buses chief minister Nitish Kumar flagged off for transporting pilgrims during Prakash Utsav.

The chief minister had declared at a recent event that 227 buses were being flagged off but transport minister Chandrika Rai said 75 buses were being used now and more will follow.

"After the event the officials and journalists held a little meeting and it was decided to stick to the number the chief minister specified," said an official, adding that they themselves were not sure about the actual number of buses plying in the city.

Slogan diversion

Chief minister Nitish Kumar was supposed to speak at a function on the increase in number of buses by Budco. But the moment he stood up to speak, a group of tall and sturdy Sikhs who had occupied seats meant for officials began raising slogans like "Jo-bole so nihaal (a Sikh shout of triumph and exultation)".

"Nitish usually gets very worked up if slogans are raised during his speech, but on this occasion he appeared pleased," said an official present who was present at the event. "Instead of speaking about the increase of buses for the state, he began talking about the pain taken by his government to make Prakash Utsav a success. In a way, the slogan-shouting Sikhs were a godsend that allowed Nitish to speak on a subject of his choice."