The ruling alliance in Bihar has taken Lalu Prasad’s nap in Lok Sabha with a pinch of salt. It appears to be more worried over Lalu's political sleep than his nap in Parliament. eacting to Lalu being caught in Lok Sabha napping by Speaker Meira Kumar, chief minister Nitish Kumar said: “Laluji was virtually sleeping. He chose to go to Forbesganj after three months.” Even the RJD leaders termed the self-imposed silence of Lalu towards Bihar politics “self-imposed political sleep”. “Laluji slept for such a long period that people almost forgot him,” said a senior RJD leader and former MP. Surprisingly it is worrying for even the ruling alliance. “A kicking Lalu is better for us than a sleeping Lalu. Many people voted for us because they feared Lalu would stage a comeback,” a BJP minister said, insisting that it was essential for the NDA to keep Lalu politically alive. It appears that the call to Lalu to wake up and be politically alive would be louder from the NDA camp then the RJD’s. Land revenue minister Ramai Ram virtually remains workless at janata drabar. The first Monday of every month is reserved for the home and the land revenue departments. As chief minister Nitish Kumar holds the home portfolio, Ram is the only minister besides Nitish at the darbar. “Ram is completely overshadowed by the presence of the chief minister. While there is a long queue in front of the desk of the chief minister, a couple of persons who come with complaints related to the land and revenue department usually walk towards the officials of the department rather than Ram, who takes frequent naps at the darbar,” an official said. Usually the darbars held on the first Monday of a month are longer. Gajendar Shahi, the JD(U) MLA popularly known as Munna Shahi, not only donated a month’s salary to the state party fund following chief minister Nitish Kumar's wish for carrying on with its green movement. He also declared that he was willing to give another month’s salary to the party for the noble cause. Shahi’s admirers and friends did not miss his generous gesture. One of them said Munna’s donation to the party should include the rent he gets from his shopping complex in the heart of the city. “There are at least 50 MLAs who can make the JD(U) cash rich if they donate their actual monthly income to the party fund. The salary of an MLA will look like chicken feed,” a party leader said. The RJD’s Forbesganj march caused loss to the state exchequer. Around 100 cars of the party crossed Mahatma Gandhi Setu but not a single car stopped to pay the toll tax for the bridge. “MPs are not supposed to pay the toll tax. But the other cars should have paid the tax for using the bridge,” an official posted at the Setu said. When there is a procession of cars and buses ferrying supporters of some political party, the employees at toll tax counters prefer to look the other way. “Several politicians, journalists and even officers do not pay the toll tax,” an employee on duty at a counter said.
Sunday, 21 December 2025
