Several JD(U) leaders were stunned to see chief minister Nitish Kumar and dissident JD(U) MP Lallan Singh standing side by side at the memorial service of former minister and JD(U) leader Ramashray Prasad Singh. Dal leader said Nitish was reluctant to be even photographed with Lallan after the two parted ways. “But on this occasion he allowed Lallan to be photographed standing just beside him,” he said. A section of the JD(U) leaders do not want Lallan back in Nitish’s good book because of his track record of dominating the party affairs. They are trying to comfort themselves assuming that the photograph meant nothing. “Even the BJP minister, Giriraj Singh, was standing next to Nitish. That does not mean Giriraj would also join us,” said a senior party leader to others. A few persons cashed in on the recent rally of Anna Hazare against corruption, literally. One among them collected cash and coins in a steel utensil till an announcement was made on the public address system that Anna’s organisation was not taking donation to fight graft. “People should be aware of unscrupulous elements raising funds on behalf of Anna on the pretext of fighting corruption. The man collecting funds had his utensil three-fourth filled with notes and coins. He did a vanishing act soon after the announcement,” said a person who attended the rally. The party hosted by the RJD MP, Ram Kripal Yadav, on the occasion of his son’s marriage recently was the talk of the town. “It was more like a rally than a marriage party as people jostled with each other to enter the venue,” said an invitee, adding that he saw an additional director-general rank official jostling with his bodyguard to get in. Initially, the venue of the party was Patna Club. But it was shifted to the Miller School grounds at the eleventh hour to accommodate the crowd. Some RJD leaders recalled that Yadav’s younger brother’s marriage reception was as chaotic. “But you can hardly can blame the people. Ram Kripal bhai does not miss any marriage invitation. At times, he attends 14 marriage functions on a night. Naturally, people think it right to attend marriages in his family,” said an RJD MLA. Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi comes across peculiar suggestions in his pre-budget interactive sessions with different segments of people. During his session with farmers, one of the participants demanded a special mobile van to ferry ailing cattle to veterinary doctors. “Why can’t you introduce special mobile vans to take our sick cattle to the doctor?” the farmer asked. Modi replied that a much smaller vehicle would be required to transport a veterinary doctor to the ailing cattle. “The poor man (Modi) has to listen to all sorts of advices. Several of them are absurd,” said an official sympathetically.
Sunday, 10 August 2025
