CM see-off crowd for Council seats

A large number of JD(U) leaders came to the airport on Wednesday to see off chief minister Nitish Kumar as he set out for the second leg of Seva Yatra. But Nitish’s car stopped on one side of the queue of the leaders, much to the disappointment of those the other end. What is the use of coming to the airport if Nitishji cannot see us,” said a dejected JD(U) leader. Most of the leaders came to the airport eyeing Legislative Council seats. The leaders who prefer to stay away are the JD(U) leaders from Mithilanchal. “The moment Nitishji sees us, he will ask what we are doing in Patna when there is a bypoll in Lokaha (Madhubani). It will shoot down any chance for an MLC seat,” a JD(U) leader from the region said. He has preferred not to be a part of the see-off crowd.

Ministry wait ends in wedding

A bachelor BJP MLA has reportedly finalised his marriage after waiting for a long time to be a minister. “He appears to have given up the hope of becoming a minister,” a BJP leader said. The focus now is on another bachelor BJP MLA Rameshwar Prasad. A fourth-term MLA, Prasad openly lauds Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and takes digs at Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. “Such leaders are offered a ministerial berth just for the heck of making them silent. In Rameshwar’s case, the criticism tactic seems to have not worked. He should follow the footsteps of the BJP MLA and get married before it is too late,” the BJP leader said. Incidentally, the JD(U) appears to have its own set of leaders waiting for the auspicious time for marriage. According to some JD(U) leaders, secretary general of the state citizen’s council Anil Pathak is in the queue. “He enjoys a deputy minister status but is waiting for a Legislative Council seat,” said another JD(U) leader .

Time to be mum

Quite a few media friendly Members of Legislative Council of NDA are trying to avoid journalists these days. A reporter was surprised to see an MLC change his route after spotting him. Later, the MLC said: “My tenure will come to an end after a few months. One slip of tongue, and my fate for extension will be sealed,” he said candidly, stressing that he would prefer to lie low at this point of time. “During the RJD days, leaders, ministers and legislators used to make statements after making sure what their leader Laluji said on the issue. Now-a-days, they simply refuse to open their mouths,” said a senior Congress leader.

Black flag flip-flop

The state RJD chief, Ram Chandra Purbey, was asked if police should thrash people showing black flags to VVIPs. Purbey strongly defended black flags, saying it was a democratic right. But when he was told that the question was in context with the black flag shown to Rahul Gandhi by a person who breached the security, Purbey said his statement stood withdrawn. “I did not know that the man had breached the security,” he said. The RJD leaders pointed out that Purbey could not afford to say anything about the Gandhi family when his leader was going all out to please its members.