Mall culture is growing among politicians. Chief minister Nitish Kumar also seems to be a part of the catch-up game.
Till recently, Nitish frequented a local restaurant to relish his favourite dish dosa. But a few days back, he was seen having hot chocolate at a newly opened stall in a mall with his associates. A day earlier, deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi inaugurated a stall and was seen eating chholey-bhature. “The mall culture is not picking up only among youngsters. Politicians are also getting into it,” a seasoned politician said, stressing that he had seen the ministers, legislators and their families going to new malls and super markets in the city.
Dal workers praise RCP
Former IAS officer and JD(U) Rajya Sabha MP Ram Chandra Prasad, better known as RCP, appears to have taken politics seriously. He seems to have developed a warm relationship with his party workers who travelled in buses from Patna to Delhi in connection with the signature campaign of the JD(U) demanding special status to Bihar. “During the bus trip from Patna to Delhi, RCP spent his time with the workers and ensured that all of us got food and a bed to sleep at our halts. Even in Delhi, he ensured that the workers were booked in Bihar Bhavan. The legislators were asked to stay in hotels. The stay in Delhi was cosy for the party workers,” said a JD(U) worker. The JD(U) workers appear to be happy over their government being headed by a man who is an engineer and their party in the hand of a former IAS officer.
Shuffle shock
The transfers of grade II and grade III officers often spring surprise, said a clerk who deals with postings. A range officer, who was recently transferred, was shocked when his predecessor refused to hand him over the change. The latter told the new incumbent that he would get the transfer stayed. The transfer of the range officer was actually nullified from the headquarters, the clerk said.
Status quo in Assembly
The day the monsoon session of the Assembly began, a four-time JD(U) legislator asked an official of the state secretariat he had been acquainted with for a long time in which post he was working. After the official replied, the MLA said: “When I came to this House around two decades ago, you were a clerk. You have risen to the rank of an officer. I am still holding the same post as I did almost two decades ago.” The JD(U) legislator has long been a ministerial aspirant in the Nitish regime. “But the MLA can take heart. A BJP legislator became a minister after got elected to the Assembly for the eighth time,” said another official of the Assembly secretariat, stressing that he had seen several politicians who made it to the Assembly but never to the ministry.
