Weak Opposition’s fitness mantra
The RJD has only 22 MLAs in the Assembly against the ruling JD (U)’s 115 and BJP’s 91. However, the RJD leaders far outnumber their NDA counterparts on the walking lanes at Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park, popularly known as the Patna zoo. While state RJD chief Ram Chandra Purbey is regularly seen jogging at the zoo, state JD (U) chief Basistha Narayan Singh and his BJP counterpart C.P. Thakur hardly visit the premises.
A regular morning walker at the park said: “The RJD leaders don’t come here for health reasons but because they are unemployed. Bereft of a position of power, they have hardly anything to do other than walking.” A soft-spoken and suave Purbey countered: “I used to walk even when I was a minister in the RJD government. It is wrong to say that we are walking just because we are unemployed.”
The first thing chief minister Nitish Kumar did after returning from New Delhi on Wednesday was to visit the Khanequah-e-Mujibia. The shrine at Phulwari Sharif is celebrating the birth anniversary of Islam’s last prophet, Hazrat Mohammad. Nitish, in fact, seldom misses a chance to visit the shrine, which attracts a huge number of Muslims on the occasion of the prophet’s birthday. According to the Khanequah members, Nitish visits the shrine more frequently than his predecessor Lalu Prasad. The former chief minister and RJD chief was referred to as the “messiah of Muslims” after arresting BJP leader L.K. Advani on his way to Ayodhya in the early 1990s. Perhaps, Nitish is conscious of his alliance with the BJP and shows more interest in Muslim issues - religious and otherwise - to demonstrate his credential as a secular leader. He never misses an opportunity to prove that his association with the BJP has not affected his secular principles. Patna police have adopted a resolution that motorists will not be allowed to talk on cellphones while driving. The regional deputy inspector-general, Patna, at his meeting with the traffic police officers issued a strong direction to the cops to impose a heavy fine on persons talking on their mobile handsets while driving. But the senior cop’s instructions have apparently fallen on deaf ears - drivers on the busy thoroughfares of the city are found talking on the phone as usual. Asked why they were unable to check the menace, which is a major cause of traffic jams and accidents, a constable at Bailey Road pointed towards a judge’s car. The driver was talking on the phone while driving. “How can we stop such vehicles? Bade logon ko pehle apne mein sudhar lana hoga (The influential people must correct themselves first),” he said. Two senior leaders of the state — former energy minister and octogenarian JD (U) leader Ramashray Prasad Singh and BJP deputy leader in the Legislative Council Ganga Prasad — always spare their official houses for weddings. Their houses, located near the state secretariat, are a big draw in the marriage season as the leaders do not stay there. A supporter of Singh was asked why the houses are not used for official or personal purposes but given for weddings, he said: “Saheb (Singh) believes that giving the house to hold weddings is a more pious act than performing a puja.” Perhaps, a similar consideration guides Ganga Prasad too.
