A BJP leader attending the marriage ceremony of Lalu Prasad’s fifth daughter Hema was surprised to find quite a few BJP leaders at 23, Tughlaq Marg. When he asked them if they were invited by Laluji, he learnt that all of them hailed from Haryana and were guests from the groom’s side.
' A relative of the groom was head of a district unit of Haryana,” the BJP leader said. “Whatever, Laluji may say about the Sangh parivar, he has a love and hate relationship with us,” said a senior BJP leader, recalling that at one time the BJP had supported the Lalu government.
With Akhilesh Yadav, the son of Mulayam Singh Yadav, all set to be the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, some RJD leaders in Bihar have started toying with idea of giving Lalu Prasad’s son Tejaswi a major role in the party. The cricketer-turned-aspiring politician had campaigned for the RJD in the last Assembly polls. “Tejaswi has to learn several tricks of the trade. But he can only learn if he is given responsibility,” a senior RJD leader said. But a section of the RJD leaders said the party should contest the 2014 Lok Sabha polls on Lalu’s strength. The NDA leaders appear unperturbed. “Tejaswi’s debut in politics was worse than that of Rahul Gandhi,” said a senior BJP leader, stressing that Tejaswi had a long way to go to match Akhilesh. An RJD MLA known or his vocal power is unusually silent for quite some time. Of late, he has been seen at the counter of the House picking up suitcases and bags given by various departments while tabling the budget. A few acquaintances wanted to know why the MLA was silent these days. “My body is with the RJD. My heart is with the JD(U),” confessed the MLA. He does not appear alone in his party. A few other MLAs of the RJD have been unusually silent in this session. “It appears that all of them have a heart problem,” quipped a political leader. Ministers’ wives are known for spending generously. But the better half of one minister is frugal. When a journalist managed to contact her on her cellphone after several attempts, her reply was short and straight: “I am in Delhi now and I will have to pay roaming charges for incoming calls now. Call me after two days when I return to Patna,” she said before hanging up.