Students of a women’s college in Patna were tired of waiting for film star and BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha, the chief guest at a function. “I am tired of holding the thali,” said one of the students.
The girls were kept waiting for more than one-and-a-half hours with thalis in their hands for Shotgun’s aarti and tilak. But to be fair, Shotgun was late because his Delhi-Patna flight was delayed. Adversaries of Shotgun in the BJP, however, pointed out that he was losing his “star attraction.” A senior BJP leader, who was never an admirer of Shotgun, said: “There was a time when people used to wait for hours to get a glimpse of him. But now he has become just another politician who tries to steal the limelight with his controversial statements.”
Party different, not bungalows
The VVIP area of Patna, housing the bungalows of ministers, high court judges, senior officials and leaders, turned into a shamiana zone on February 4 and 5. Huge tents and welcome gates sprang up in the locality and a large number of buses were parked in the area. The buses were of BJP workers. The party MLAs and ministers had made arrangements for the tents to host them. The workers had come to Patna on trains and in buses to participate in the mega workers’ meet at Gandhi Maidan. “It is the same story again and again. During the RJD regime a large number of tents would come up in the locality each time the party came up with such shows. It is a nuisance,” said an official, who stays in the locality. Mercifully, the BJP legislators resisted from engaging dance girls to entertain the participants, a common phenomena in the RJD regime, he added.
The elections for 30 office-bearers of Bihar Police Association proved to be an elaborate affair with around 1,500 cops casting their votes. Over 100 police jeeps were parked outside the venue where the elections were conducted. Ballot papers and pamphlets were scattered across the venue and the passers-by were amused. “I wonder if the police stations in the city are empty today (Saturday). The criminals can have a field day if they decided to strike,” said one of them. The cars of senior policemen were also present at the venue, triggering speculation that the bade sahabs (tops cops) were interested to see their favourites elected to the post. “It is only the drivers of the sahebs casting their votes,”
said a policeman.
Final countdown for dissidents
The JD (U) appears to have finally decided to crack the whip on dissidents not appearing before the party’s disciplinary committee. Former state chief Lallan Singh, MP Upendra Kushwaha and MLC Prem Kumar Mani did not appear before the panel despite receiving two notices. The chairman of the panel, Gyanendra Kumar Gyanu, said the committee would assume the charges against them were true because they refused to appear before the panel. “The end of the tunnel appears to be in sight,”
said a senior JD (U) leader.
