Stir in teacup

The jibes of RJD chief Lalu Prasad and chief minister Nitish Kumar at the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s “tea show” have stunned several politicians. alu’s sudden remark that he was the senior tea-seller because he also sold biscuits as a child has come as a surprise even to the RJD leaders. “Laluji never told us earlier that he sold tea as a child. He did tell us how he used to ride on buffaloes in his native village before coming to Patna,” said an old associate of Lalu. “The popularity of a tea-seller must have forced Laluji to become a tea-seller,” said a BJP leader with a smirk. The Facebook remark of Nitish that “idle talks are held over tea” also has surprised many. “When he became the chief minister, he used to hold informal discussions over tea. These were aimed at generating ideas from different sections of the society. “But the exercise proved futile because there were more requests for work than ideas. The session was scrapped later,” recalled a senior JD(U) leader.

Shahnawaz card

Former minister Giriraj Singh’s wish to project Syed Shahnawaz Hussain as the BJP’s candidate for the chief minister’s post amused several party leaders. “What happens to our leader who has been waiting for years?” asked a senior BJP leader, obviously referring to former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi. “Modi was a successful leader of the Opposition during the Lalu-Rabri era and it was thought he would be the natural choice for the chief minister’s post when we came to power. But somehow Nitish slipped in,” said a senior BJP leader, accusing Giriraj of trying of play politics over the state leadership.

Tech savvy youth

A youngster occupied the stage for 30 minutes at a BJP function in which senior leaders were asked to finish off their speech within a few minutes. The youth held sway over the audience, including Arun Jaitley, as he gave a PowerPoint presentation on how the party could use technology to its advantage in the Lok Sabha polls. Several senior leaders admired him. “This youngster has potential to make it big. But who is he?” a BJP leader asked. Later, he learnt that the youngster was Rituraj, son of newly elected Rajya Sabha MP R.K. Sinha. “We have a father and son pair in the party,” the leader said.