Ram’s defiance habit resurfaces

Transport minister Ramai Ram is angry after being chided by former chief minister Nitish Kumar for not listening to the party MLAs on issues related to transfers in his department. am told several legislators that he would not be bullied by Nitish. “I did not fear Lalu Prasad when I was a minister in his cabinet. It does not make a difference to me if Nitish is angry with me. My leader is chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and I shall follow his words only,” he said. An anxious JDU MLA said: “When Ram was a minister in the Lalu ministry, he was the state president of the then Janata Dal. He used to defy Lalu by declaring that the former chief minister was not his leader and he considered S.R. Bommai (the then national president of the party) his leader. This time, he is using the name of Manjhi.”

Nitish mum

Former chief minister Nitish Kumar spends very little time in the Bihar Legislative Council. He has not uttered a word inside the Council this session. He sits in the Council for a few minutes and then moves to his cabin near the office of the chairman. He is never seen in the second-half. BJP MLCs jokingly pointed out that Nitish sits beside the party MLC, Sanjay Singh, known for his frequent comments on the BJP and its leaders. “The former chief minister should start speaking in the Council influenced by Sanjay,” said a BJP MLC. Even JDU MLCs privately concede that Nitishji appears “lost” in the House. “Perhaps he is missing the fun of being the chief minister,” added another.

Snide banner

RJD MLA Bhai Dinesh is a known campaigner against alcohol. He demanded a ban on the sale of liquor in Bihar several times in his maverick style. A couple of days ago, he held out a banner at the Assembly gate stating that Jitan Ram Manjhi had become the chief minister because his father quit alcohol! It also appealed to the Manjhi government to ban the sale of liquor in the state. Within an hour, Dinesh vanished. The RJD MLAs reportedly chided him for embarrassing Manjhi to whom the RJD extended support.

Silence of Siddiqui

The usually vocal RJD leader in the Assembly, Abdul Bari Siddiqui, has become unusually silent. When he opened his mouth on Wednesday, he got into a verbal duel with BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav. A source in the RJD pointed out that Siddiqui's silence was the fallout of the new friendship between the JDU and the RJD. “Siddiqui cannot criticise the government. He cannot be seen siding with the BJP against the JDU government. That is why he has preferred to remain silent,” said an RJD leader.