Little respect for state’s first citizen

A heated exchange between the ruling alliance and the Opposition in the Assembly brought to the surface the attitude of political parties towards the first citizen of the state. While the Leader of the Opposition, Abdul Bari Siddiqui, accused the government of showing scant respect for the constitutional post, energy minister Vijendra Prasad Yadav reminded the RJD MLAs that they had described Governor Devanand Konwar to be an “agent of the ruling party”.iddiqui said the BJP and the JD(U) had cast aspersions on former Governor A.R. Kidwai. Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi hit back by recalling how Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi had publicly ridiculed Sundar Singh Bhandari and Vinod Chandra Pandey. “The funny thing is that not only have both parties shown scant respect for the constitutional post, they have competed with each other in hurling abuses at the governor,” observed a senior Congress leader.

Lengthy response

Planning minister Narendra Narayan Yadav has earned a reputation of providing detailed answers in the Assembly. When BJP MLA Achchutanand asked him a question on photo identity cards and enrolment in voters’ lists, the reply was so long and detailed that Achchutanand wondered if he should ask the supplementary question. “What supplementary question can there be after the minister has provided such an intricate reply?” asked Speaker Uday Narain Choudhary. Another senior MLA said: “In a previous session, the minister had answered a question for 25 minutes. Even the MLA who asked the question slept through the answer.”

Dirty picture

After the strength of the LJP in the Assembly shrunk from three to just one, the Opposition has started alleging that the ruling party is up to its “dirty work”. “The people of the state have given a large mandate to the JD(U)-BJP alliance. Yet, they are making efforts to lure away our MLAs. Had the anti-defection law not been in place, the life would have been much easier for the aaya Rams and gaya Rams (those who come and go),” said a senior RJD legislator. Opposition MLAs making friendly gestures to their counterparts on the ruling bench has added fuel to the fire. The legislator added: “The JD(U) already has 118 MLAs. They are trying to get the magic figure of 122 in this session itself.” The RJD with 23 MLAs is in a safe zone but not all parties can be in peace. “For instance, the Congress has only four legislators,” the MLA added.

Dilemma of moral police

RJD MLA Dinesh Kumar’s dramatic protest over CDs of “vulgar” Holi songs being sold openly elicited a curious response from some of his colleagues in the Assembly. “One has to listen to the songs to know that they are vulgar. Dineshji must have listened to them before eciding to protest against them,” said a BJP MLA. few NDA leaders also recalled that a former RJD leader - now a JD(U) minister - had held a news conference to protest against the treaming of a documentary film by the state government on an adult website. The joke that circulated in the political circles then was that the politician was himself a patron of these sites.