Politicians flip-flop on murder mystery
The murder of BJP MLA Rajkishore Keshari on Tuesday saw politicians changing tracks the very next day. On the day of the murder, RJD chief Lalu Prasad mourned Keshari’s death and hailed him as a dynamic leader. He refused to comment on the charges made by Rupam Pathak. But the next day, Lalu demanded a CBI probe. On the other hand, deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi ruled out a CBI probe after alleging conspiracy. The same day he sent a message mourning the death of the wife of Lalu’s younger brother.
He termed her a religious lady. The state BJP leaders, however, lashed out at the RJD state chief Ram Chandra Purbey for declaring that even the MLAs were not safe in Bihar. They criticised Purbey for raising the issue of legislators’ security on such an occasion and were quick to remind the RJD that around-half-a-dozen MLAs were killed during the Lalu-Rabri regime. When chief minister Nitish Kumar’s mother died on January 1, the state’s politicians made a rare display of solidarity. But it did not last long. Politics, remarked a senior politician of the state, is the basic instinct. Niceties are transient.
There is a hall on the third floor of the New Secretariat where Grade III employees sit during recess. As the mercury dipped, employees were seen huddled together, cursing the government. The reason for their anger was not the excess work. It was a broken windowpane from where cold air was gushing into the hall. “The government is talking so much about employees’ welfare but it cannot repair a broken windowpane,” said a shivering employee. One of his colleagues pointed out that the sahibs had blowers and heaters in their offices. The thought appeared to have made the cold more chilling.
The authorities of Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) have claimed that the services at the health hub has improved. But ask the nurses and they will disagree. It is not only the patients and attendants who find it difficult to respond to the call of nature on the hospital premises. The nurses face the same problem. The toilets and baths in their hostels are in a shambles. Recently, the nurses submitted a petition to a PMCH official demanding renovation of the toilets and baths. The official’s answer was shocking. “Perhaps you (the nurses) should go out of the hospital premises and find a suitable place,” he said. The nurses insisted the official should be thrown out of the hospital, preferably near a toilet, if he cannot find a solution to their problem. The murder of BJP MLA Rajkishore Keshari by a woman has got a section of MLAs worried about their own security. “We have to meet all sorts of persons in our constituency. What will we do if a person stabs or shoots us all of a sudden,” said an MLA to his colleague. He said increasing the number of bodyguards around them was not a solution. In the past, MLAs have been killed despite having bodyguards around them. “Frisking visitors will amount to losing votes,” he added. His fellow MLA had an advice. “You can start off by not allowing women wrapped in shawls to come near you,” he said, reminding the former that Rupam, who killed Keshari, had the knife hidden inside her shawl.
