Dal leaders wait for change in CM

Chief minister Nitish Kumar appears to be under the scrutiny of the JD(U) leaders, hoping for a change in his working pattern after the Rajgir meet. uite a few leaders had raised the issue of Nitish lending his ears to non-political persons who do not know anything about elections. They did not take names but everyone knew that they were talking about former IAS and Rajya Sabha MP R.C. Prasad, Lallan Saraf, Sanjay Gandhi and Sanjay Jha. “We do not object to the chief minister talking to them. But he should speak to the leaders at the grassroots also to know the ground reality. We can still beat the BJP if the Bihar chief minister forgoes his ‘feel good’ factor,” said a senior leader of the JD(U), insisting that Nitish’s aides had failed to give him the actual “feedback” on the people’s pulse. The JD(U) leaders are still waiting for the change.

Ire against top cop

Director-general of police Abhayanand happens to be the most hated man in the JD(U). The blasts at Gandhi Maidan have renewed a whispering campaign against him. “We keep wondering what stopped the chief minister from sacking the DGP after a series of inept handling of situations. Not just the serial blasts at Gandhi Maidan, he brought disrepute to the government by poorly dealing with the chaos in Patna after the murder of Ranvir Sena chief Brahmeshwar Singh ‘Mukhiya’ and the protest by para-teachers during the Adhikar Rally,” said a senior JD(U) leader, stressing that these incidents had taken the sheen away from Nitish’s image.

Party poser on sanitisation

Chief minister Nitish Kumar claimed that he had asked the director-general of police (DGP) to ensure the sanitisation of Gandhi Maidan before the Hunkar Rally. Police circles are wondering if there was anyone to execute the order. “On the eve of the Hunkar Rally, the IPS Wives’ Association, headed by the wife of the DGP, held a pre-Diwali party at the IPS Mess on Bailey Road. Every police officer turned up there, unable to ignore their wives. The officers given the order to sanitise the Gandhi Maidan were at the party instead of carrying out the order,” said a police officer.

Modi matters

There is a grumbling in the BJP that the state party leadership has handed over the entire unit to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, but its volume is too feeble to be heard. Everybody wants the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate to come to Bihar at least once a month. “It means funds,” said a BJP leader. If the BJP leaders are to be believed, Modi’s men from Gujarat managed everything at Hunkar Rally. “The local BJP leaders thought that they would have to pay for the show and raised money from their supporters and the officials ready to pay for every political event. The amount collected turned into the BJP state unit’s savings,” said a BJP MLA.