Modest inauguration, eye on dazzling result

The school at the seized home of an IAS officer was inaugurated by a woman hailing from the Mahadalit community. When chief minister Nitish Kumar declared the inauguration of the institution would be a low-key affair, he perhaps had in his mind the high-profile inauguration of two schools by his arch political rival Lalu Prasad, which closed down later. In the early 1990s, Lalu went around inaugurating the Charwaha schools and Pehalwan School. His idea of Charwaha schools - meant for children of shepherds - won worldwide acclaim as an innovative idea. But the schools died a natural death within a couple of years as funds for food for the children was stopped by the state government,” recalled a senior politician, stressing that Nitish is against high-profile inaugurations perhaps because of it.

 

Lobbying for Cong top post

The visit of the Congress MP and new Bihar in-charge Sanjay Nirupam exposed what the Congress leaders are best known for: lobbying. An office-bearer of the party welcomed Nirupam at the airport with all his supporters but did not go to Sadaqat Ashram because his rivals were there. “Everybody knows that the Congress high command will remove the present state party president, Mehboob Ali Quaiser, before the next Lok Sabha polls. So every aspirant, including two former state party presidents, lobbied hard with Nirupam to make a comeback. A few even had other Congress leaders mention their name as possible alternatives,” a senior Congress leader said. A section of the party leaders feel Nirupam could be a hard nut to crack. “Although Nirupam is an MP from Maharashtra, he originally hails from Bihar and will be much more informed about the ground realities of Bihar politics,” said another senior party leader.

Work over, caution stays

The Eco Park, located in the VVIP zone, is one of the hotspots in the town. The authorities constructed a subway to the park a few months ago. But the signboard “karya pragati par” (work in progress) has not been removed after the completion of the work. “It confuses people and they roam around the park cautiously assuming some work was still going on,” a daily visitor said. Perhaps it is one of the many things the construction agency appears to have forgotten.

 

Modi away, still sleepless nights

When a minister is away, the officials of his/her department usually have a gala time. But deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi's tour to Europe appears to have added to the stress of the officials. A couple of staff members of Modi were seen trying to find out the time difference between Patna and the countries Modi is visiting. “Modiji might send us a message at odd hours and ask us to circulate it to the media. When he is in Patna, we at least have a peaceful sleep. But his trip abroad is giving us sleepless nights,” an official said sheepishly.