he reported statement of deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi that chief minister Nitish Kumar is a prime ministerial material has been taken with a pinch of salt by his opponents in the BJP. “Thank God, he is in the BJP. He was mildly chided by Nitishji. Had he been in the JD(U), he might have been pulled up by the chief minister like minister Bhim Singh and made to apologise for the statement,” said a senior BJP leader, adding that Modi had ducked journalists who had tried to contact him to confirm the statement.odi’s supporters in the party, however, claimed that he had said nothing of the sort. “In fact, he went on to say that the Prime Minister candidate would be from the BJP and even defended Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi,” said a BJP MLA. “It’s like walking on a tightrope for Sushil — he has to keep both Nitish Kumar and Narendra Modi in good humour.”P Rajiv Ranjan alias Lallan Singh continues to be the focus of speculation in the JD(U) because of his return to the fold of Nitish Kumar. But in the Congress, there’s another Lallan who is widely talked about — the president of the state Youth Congress. Last week, senior Congress leaders of Bihar staged a dharna alleging poor utility of central funds in the state. But when they went to the Raj Bhavan to submit a memorandum they were denied entry despite a prior appointment. “Then, Youth Congress chief Lallan Kumar intervened and got the senior leaders an appointment with Governor Devanand Konwar. The next day, the Congress leaders marched into Raj Bhavan happily as if they had been invited to take oath for the formation of a government. But for Governor Konwar, the only Congressman in Bihar seems to be Lallan Kumar,” said a former Congress MLA.and revenue minister Ramai Ram was the only cabinet member present at chief minister Nitish Kumar’s janata durbar in the first week of this month. He was surrounded by senior police officers busy listening to complaints and receiving petitions. But Ram looked almost jobless. With few visitors coming to his table, he decided to call the doctor and get his blood pressure examined. The doctor told him that his blood pressure was low. “Ram began to sweat on hearing this and had to be given a medicine. The minister must be feeling low at finding himself jobless,” said an official present at the durbar.ournalists covering chief minister Nitish Kumar’s janata durbar this Monday had to pay the price for women staging a protest. Usually, Nitish takes a break around 1pm and addresses journalists before taking his lunch and returning to the durbar. But, on Monday, when women created a ruckus, the chief minister remained seated. “You do not need a news meet. You already have enough news from my durbar,” Nitish told the journalists and sat till he had met the last of 1,100 visitors. He addressed the journalists around 6pm, after making them wait for around eight hours.
Sunday, 11 May 2025
