Political war on mythological lines
The Dussehra gone by saw Bihar leaders using mythical characters to target their opponents. hief minister Nitish Kumar referred to Kalnemi - a demon in Ramayana — to train guns on his archrival and RJD boss Lalu Prasad. Kalnemi had tried to stop Lord Humunan from carrying sanjivani buti (life saving herb) for Laxman, injured after being hit by an arrow. But Hunuman killed the demon and reached the destination on time to save Laxman’s life. Nitish said: “These days, Kalnemis are on the prowl. But they can’t stop the do-gooders trying to prosper in Bihar. Be aware of such Kalnemis.” Nitish did not name Lalu, who is drawing huge crowd to his meetings of late. The people obviously inferred that Nitish equated Lalu and his other opponents with Kalnemi. The RJD boss, on his part, repeatedly described Nitish as the “Ravana” for his alleged arrogance. The wily RJD boss, Lalu Prasad, had his own way of describing the corruption charges levelled on the BJP president, Nitin Gadkari. Instead of going into the etails of actual charges that the India Against orruption (IAC) activist, Arvind Kejriwal, levelled on the BJP boss, he saw it as the manifestation of ujarat chief minister Narendra Modi’s 'animosity' towards Gadkari. 'Modi has emerged as an nternally declared prime ministerial candidate in the BJP. But Gadkari hardly sounds categorical in eclaring his name for the top post. Modi, angry with Gadkari for not declaring him as the prime inisterial candidate, used Kejriwals and his followers in the IAC to target adkari. In the process, Lalu tried to prove the roximity of Kejriwal and the IAC activists to Modi. Rabri Devi, of late, is not accompanying Lalu Prasad to meetings. So is his son Tejpratap, once billed to be the chief of the RJD’s youth wing. Any guess, why the famed wife and son are missing at meetings? 'Perhaps, the boss (Lalu) has realised that the oters were not happy with him for promoting his wife and son. He has also realised that he was still the ‘darling’ with a large section of the state’s electorate as healthy crowd are ttending his meetings. Trying hard to stage a comeback, the boss does not want to take any risk by involving his wife and son in political shows this time around,' a enior RJD leader said.Puja revellers bypass price pinch
Spiralling rise in the prices of essential commodities ardly had any bearing on Durga Puja celebrations. andals at Dakbungalow crossing, Raja Bazaar, Sheikhpura, Patna Junction railway station, Machhua Toli, Kankerbagh and Ashiana Nagar were as decorated as ever. Lakhs of people gathered at Gandhi Maidan to see Lanka dahan (burning of Ravana’s effigy) and related fireworks on the occasion of Dussehra. Sweets and garment shops did brisk business in the run-up to puja. Despite the hardship caused by the price rise, Dussehra celebrations indicated that the festivals to follow soon — Diwali and Chhath — would be celebrated with gusto.
