Nitish wins over Thackerays
Shiv Sena boss Bal Thackeray, known for his “caustic” words, spent several words praising Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar before his visit to Mumbai.
Nitish is doing good work in Bihar. He (Nitish) deserves praise,” the Sena chief wrote in his party mouthpiece, Saamna. So enamoured is Bal Thackeray with Nitish that he (Bal) lampooned his nephew and MNS chief Raj Thackeray. “He (Raj) has indulged in dramatics for cheap popularity. Why should he stop a chief minister from coming to Mumbai?” the Sena chief wrote. Nitish’s political friends described Bal Thackeray’s new-found love for the Bihar chief minister as the latter’s knack to drive a wedge even within a family to achieve his goal. “Nitish must have pampered the Shiv Sena chief ahead of his Mumbai visit,” said a friend of Nitish, speculating the chief minister must have talked to Bal Thackeray ahead of the MNS chief Raj Thackeray for his Mumbai trip. Incidentally, Raj too fell for Nitish’s “sugar-coated” words and described him as “a good man doing a lot of work for his state”. Till recently, Thackerays spewed venom at Nitish for Biharis allegedly invading Mumbai. “Now chacha and bhatija (Bal and Raj) have fallen for Nitish’s charm, thanks to Bihar chief minister’s skill to win enemies’ hearts,” said a keen observer of politics.
Sadhu wakes up to reality
The Patna civil court recently rejected a petition of Sadhu Yadav, the brother-in-law of former chief minister Lalu Prasad, seeking relief from a case lodged against him for barging into the official chamber of a secretary-rank officer in 2001. His sister, Rabri Devi, was the chief minister then. Sadhu is now in the soup because he will have to undergo trial in the wake of the court rejecting his discharge petition. But Sadhu is simply perplexed at the developments. “Kisi office mein ghus jaana, thoda lappad thappad karna koi gunah hai kya? Humlog political aadmi hain, janata ke issue par garam hona parta hai (Is barging into an office and inflicting a few slaps on an official are crime? We are political people and have be aggressive for the people’s cause at times),” Sadhu was quoted as saying to one of his friends. In a way, Sadhu was not wrong because he used to detain Rajdhani Express at Patna Junction till he reached the station during the Lalu-Rabri regime. It was quite usual for him to get rough with government officials. “Lekin ab jamana badal gaya hai (But time has changed now). Sadhu will have to be tried in the court of law for the acts he found ‘usual’ during the days of his jija (brother-in-law) and didi (elder sister),” said a JD(U) worker.
Relief from hard work
Soon after chief minister Nitish Kumar flew off to Mumbai on Saturday, the CM’s secretariat wore a deserted look. Most of the officers left. So did several secretaries in other offices. “With the chief minister out of the state, we have got time to be with our family members. We will have a nice sleep tonight,” said an officer. “We don’t get time to sleep properly when he (chief minister) lives in Patna, forget going out,” he said. The officer was apparently true in his remarks because Nitish wakes up early in the morning and goes through all the local newspapers. “After reading the dailies, he starts calling up the officers to ask the action they had taken on the crimes reported in the papers,” the officer said. “The telephone operators, aides, assistants, top police brass and the secretaries are supposed to be ready to respond to Nitish’s call,” said another officer.
Milky way for Lalu
The Yadav leaders cutting across party lines are angry over the sharp rise in milk price, effected by Sudha Dairy. “Had Lalu Prasad been in power, he would have never allowed the prices of milk to go up. Nitishji is hardly concerned about the importance of milk,” said a Yadav leader from the JD(U), adding that milk is an essential commodity in almost every household because children cannot live without it and grown-ups cannot do without milk as it is an essential ingredient for tea and coffee. The Yadav leader said: “Laluji had done a good thing by allowing everyone to rear cattle at home. There were cowsheds in every locality.” A Yadav leader of the BJP also said: “In cow belt, people should be allowed to raise cows wherever they like.” The Yadav leaders feel that Lalu will make the milk price rise a big issue to generate anger of people against Nitish.
