Congress leaders yawn in meeting

The Congress meeting presided over by the new All India Congress Committee in-charge Gurucharan Singh Charak proved to be a sleepy affair. Several leaders, including Congress Legislative Party leader Sadanand Singh (in picture), slept on the stage when speakers talked about ways to revive the virtually dead party in the state. The only exciting moment came when a few leaders from districts hurled charges against each other and at senior leaders of the party,” said a former Congress MLA, adding that a humiliating defeat in the Assembly polls have taught the party nothing. The state party chief Mehboob Ali Quaiser did not attend the meeting. A few party men tried to shield Quaiser saying he was absent for personal preoccupation. “The party is wishing to revive itself through yawning meets,” said a disgusted Congress leader./B>

No link with Amalendu

The refusal of the Congress leaders to acknowledge any relationship with Amalendu Pandey is not surprising because he and Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry Iqbal Singh (in picture) are under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with Hasan Ali's passport. Squarely blaming Pandey for the passport muddle, Singh said the Bihar Congress leader had pleaded Ali’s case for a passport. “Pandey was so influential that his name was included in the list of the state office-bearers despite he staying in Delhi. When he occasionally came to Patna he always appeared flushed with money, throwing parties in posh hotels for senior Congress leaders,” said a Congress leader. Now that Pandey is under the ED scanner, every Congress leader is busy in denying any link with him.

Kin’s keen intervention

Eyebrows were raised recently when a minister arrived with a kin at an official meeting. “The minister’s relative did not sit through the meeting idle. He asked more questions than several officials present in the meeting,” an official said, adding the minister’s kin appeared bright. Wards taking active interest in their parents’ job is nothing new. A son of a former chief minister used to be virtually surrounded by officials and they took his words as orders. When Rabri Devi became the chief minister, a few of her ministers said one of her kin actually advised her on which file to sign and which one to keep pending. “But this is quite different. Earlier, the intervention was unofficial. This one was actually in an official meeting,” said the official.

Far from real

The 163-member state executive body of the RJD comprises a number of former ministers, including Awadh Bihari Choudhary, Vidya Sagar Nishad (in picture), Veena Shahi, Ramashray Sahni, Gajendra Prasad Singh and Ashok Singh. The state party president declared a “shadow ministry” would be formed in which members would hold regular meetings to discuss the government moves and find faults in them. “It will be like pretending to be a minister,” said one of the members. Several executive body members who have been ministers for 15 years admitted that it would be nothing like the “real thing”.