ugly reminder: The poster denouncing the RJD regime in Bihar at the BJP office in Patna. Picture by Jai Prakash

Patna, April 20: Those responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the state BJP office on Beer Chand Patel Path seem to have forgotten the little nugget of wisdom: Let bygones be bygones. Visitors to the party office will find a 22-paragraph-long slogan on a poster that describes in painstaking detail the 15 years of the RJD-regime in the state.

There are no prizes for guessing that the description of the Lalu-Rabri regime on the poster — used in the election campaign last year — is not very complimentary. But even the BJP workers are not very happy about the reminder of what they describe to be a “dark phase” in the history of the state.

“I don’t think it is relevant anymore. I don’t know why this poster has been kept in the party office. Whenever I come here and see it, the poster only taunts me and reminds me of those days,” said Ramesh Ram, a BJP member.

He added: “The words Narsanhar aur bhrashtrachar, jail se chalti thi sarkar (Massacre and corruption, the government was being run from behind bars) is very upsetting. I know the words are true. But why would I want to remember those days?”

Ram added that he believes nothing would be gained by looking back, and it is now time to cherish the good work done by the NDA government, in which the BJP is such a major player.

Pratik Ranjan, another visitor, said: “It has been more than four months that the new government was formed. No other party office has preserved the campaign material in their office. I do not understand what is the use of keeping this here and showing it to visitors.

“If the party wants to convey a message to the people, it should be about new things and with new slogans,” said Ranjan.

He added: “The slogan is a little redundant and ironic. It claims that rape and kidnappings were common occurrences in the state during the RJD rule. But such crimes are happening even now. There are cases of rape and kidnap across the state. So what is the point of keeping this poster?”

A source said that during the Assembly elections such posters were put up everywhere, including the JD (U) office at the other end of the road. But most of these were removed after the government was formed.

Though the party bosses agree that the poster is not needed anymore, they are also of the opinion that visitors do not take it seriously or even look at it.

Urban development and housing minister Prem Kumar said: “I don’t think people coming to the party office take this poster seriously. They come here with their problems, which we try to sort out.”

Then, he added: “It is good that this poster is here. We want people to remember what the previous regime was like.”

BJP spokesman Sudhir Kumar Sharma, however, agreed that the poster was not relevant anymore and it would be removed soon.

“Perhaps, the party workers forgot to remove it. Now that you have mentioned it, it will be removed soon,” said Sharma.