Bonhomie of CMs baffles BJP leaders

A section of the BJP leaders is taken aback by the warm reception accorded to Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik by his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar. Nitish personally ensured hospitality at the venue of the Planning Commission meeting and the lunch. Breaking the protocol, he went to see Patnaik off at the airport. It is a sharp contrast to the reception he gives to the Gujarat chief minister, Narendra Modi,” a senior BJP leader said. Last year, Nitish had insulted the Gujarat chief minister for an advertisement appearing in a paper, the leader said. He also withdrew the dinner he was supposed to host for the BJP leaders who were in the city for the party’s national executive meet, the BJP leader added.

No kidding in meeting

Several women councillors went to attend the general body meeting of the Patna Municipal Corporation with their children. The presence of so many children inside the meeting that discussed important issues related to the city raised eyebrows, but the councillors expressed their helplessness. “The summer vacation is on. Where can we leave our children?” a lady councillor asked. One of her male counterparts had a solution. “Many of these women have got elected fighting a proxy battle for their husbands because the ward was reserved for women. Now, these women should ask their husbands to keep their children while they attend the meeting,” he said. Initially, husbands of quite a few women councillors used to attend the civic body meetings with their wives. But the husbands were barred from attending the meetings after strong opposition. “But it is going to be difficult to bar children from meetings,” the male councillor added.

Inflated TA bills

The state government officials were shocked to see the travel allowance (TA) bills of the Panchayati Raj institution members attending the second day of the Planning Commission meet. “We had expected a TA claim of s 500 a person. So, we had given cash to officials so that they could make spot payment. But each of the panchayat members gave a bill exceeding Rs 5,000. All of them had hired taxi to come to Patna,” a senior official said. Ultimately, the panchayat members returned without getting their TAs with the assurance that their bills would be scrutinised by the authorities concerned and payments would be made as “per rule”. “You cannot blame the panchayat members. The panchayats are flushed with money. The candidates used SUVs for electioneering. You cannot expect the elected panchayat members to come to Patna in uses,” an official arcastically said.

Good morning walk insight

The brakes on tickets for morning-walkers of Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park got a warm welcome from the citizens, but the reason behind the sudden decision has become an issue of debate. Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi announced the decision a day after former minister and state RJD chief Ram Chandra Purbey held a protest against the government’s move to introduce tickets for morning-walkers. “Everybody knows the relationship between Modi and Purbey despite being in rival political camps,” a senior BJP leader said, pointing out that the two were known for helping each other.