Santosh Sao, a litti-chokha vendor on Bailey Road, was star-struck and shocked — all in the same day. ctor Aamir Khan, during his stopover in the city last month, had four littis with chokha and chutney from Sao’s stall. Praising the delicacy, the star gave Sao Rs 500 for litti-chokha available for Rs 20 per plate. The vendor, however, was in for a shock once the hoopla died down. “After everybody left, Sao realised he had actually incurred a loss of over Rs 1,000. His utensils were broken in the rush of fans and security personnel and many of his littis had fallen on the road,” said a resident who was a witness to the mad rush. This is not the first time star-struck fans in Patna almost triggered a stampede. A police officer recalled the difficulty the men in uniform faced while averting a stampede-like situation when Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan came to the city. One officer said: “The losses incurred by a posh hotel and a mall in Patna was enormous.” RJD chief Lalu Prasad appears to be thoroughly disillusioned with “babas”. Stressing that he was beginning to feel fit, Lalu told his followers in Patna: “I do not believe in the likes of Nirmal Baba (a godman) to maintain my health. I have started brisk walking in the morning. I walk till I begin to sweat.” While the RJD leaders are happy that their chief has become health-conscious, one of them recalled how Lalu was influenced by godmen not too long ago. “When yoga practitioner Baba Ramdev came to Patna to meet Laluji, the latter had declared before the media that asanas prescribed by Ramdev had brought his blood pressure and blood sugar down to normal,” said an RJD leader. He added: “After Baba Ramdev began to speak against the Centre, Laluji decided to oppose not only the yoga guru but also his prescribed treatments. It’s quite a turnaround, as Laluji was the strongest defender of Baba Ramdev when CPM leader Brinda Karat questioned the contents of medicines made by his company.” When the JD(U) organised a blood donation camp recently, very few political leaders and legislators seemed willing to contribute to the noble cause. For a party that has over 160 MLAs and MLCs, only MLA Poonam Devi and MLC Sanjay Singh donated blood. “Others like state party chief Basishtha Narayan Singh and food and consumer protection minister Shyam Rajak were present at the camp but offered only lip service,” said a JD(U) worker. Instead of political workers, students of AN College and Magadh Mahila College, who were called to participate in the camp, donated blood. “Politicians are supposed to set examples before the people. Here, most of them preferred to give only long speeches,” mused a participant. When chief minister Nitish Kumar resumed his Seva Yatra, many thought he would take to the road. However, the chief minister took a plane to Samastipur. “The problem is the rush of MLC aspirants. They surface at every corner of the state with their resumes,” said a senior JD(U) leader. Twelve seats in the Council are to be filled by persons nominated by the governor, with recommendations from the state government. Naturally, ticket aspirants have started queuing up outside 1 Aney Marg, pushing Nitish to take to the air. Those who know the chief minister closely, however, wonder why the ticket aspirants arrive with their bio-data before him. “He (Nitish) was never a keen reader of bio-data. If he wants to give something to someone, he would do so without resumes,” said a senior party leader.
Sunday, 18 May 2025
