Leaders jittery over Lalu film rumour

The RJD leaders are not happy over the rumour that their party chief Lalu Prasad was toying with the idea of appearing in a Bhojpuri film featuring fellow MP and Bollywood actress of yesteryears Jaya Prada. hey fear the movie would give Lalu’s political adversaries an opportunity to ridicule him just before the Lok Sabha polls. “He (Lalu) appears to be fascinated by films and actors. He even asked film actress and BJP leader Hema Malini for a role in her film though she campaigns against him in every election,” said an RJD MLA. The party leaders recalled that Lalu had made a guest appearance in the film Padmashri Laloo Prasad Yadav. Lalu earned praise from co-stars like Johnny Lever for his role, but the film bombed in the box office. The RJD leaders feel Lalu would do better stick to politics than acting.

Tap-struck

The RJD MLA, Dinesh Kumar Singh, is “tapping-struck”. The maverick legislator used to create ripples in the Assembly through dramatics like riding a bullock cart and bringing liquor bottles to the legislative building. He has been a lensman’s delight over the years. Last week, JD(U) MLAs came out with the print out of his cellphone call details and alleged that he had demanded extortion money from a contractor in Ara district. The government assured the House that a police investigation would be conducted. “Since then, Dinesh has remained silent. Quietly, he is coming to the House and taking in his seat,” said a JD(U) MLA, stressing that the RJD MLA had been “phone tapping-struck”. He is the third politician whose calls have been tapped. The others are MP Ram Kripal Yadav and former MP Pappu Yadav. In the case of Singh, even the RJD camp seems to be happy because his eccentricity in the House embarrassed them several times.

NaMo & SuMo merge

Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi’s statement on his long friendship with Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi at the BJP’s state working committee meet has changed equations in the state unit of the party. Before this remark, the joke was that the party was divided between NaMo (supporters of Narendra Modi) and SuMo (Sushil Kumar Modi supporters in favour of continuing with the alliance with the JD-U). “But now SuMo and NaMo have merged,” said a BJP MLA, stressing that even the deputy chief minister has been swept by the wave of the Gujarat chief minister. RJD MLA Raghvendra Pratap Singh also observed while speaking in the Assembly that NaMo had cast a spell on the deputy chief minister of Bihar.

Signature statement

After The Telegraph published a report on how a birth certificate in the name of the son of the chief minister was issued by Patna Municipal Corporation, several officers defended the civic and block officials who are supposed to verify the facts given in affidavits. “The volume of files is so high that it is impossible to go through them thoroughly. The code word among officials seeing many files is “chiriya baitha do (Let the bird sit)”. “It means give a cursory look at the files and sign,” said a senior official, stressing that “some mistakes” are bound to happen because of the “chiriya” practice.