Budget session comes with gifts

The budget session is always welcome to MLAs and MLCs. The budget of almost every department is tagged with gifts, including suitcase, briefcase, airbag and executive file. One budget session is enough to take care of luggage for your travels for a long time,” said an MLA. As the session ends this year, road construction minister Nand Kishore Yadav happens to be the favourite. His department gifted suitcase to all the legislators. Old-timers recall that gifts to legislators used to be far more expensive earlier. A controversy had erupted following the gift of expensive watches to all MLAs. The price of each watch at that time was more than Rs 20,000. Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi was the Leader of the Opposition then and had opposed expensive gifts to legislators in a poor state like Bihar. It was during the NDA regime when the MLAs were given laptops. “Most MLAs thought it was a gift. Later, they learnt they would have to return them if they are not re-elected,” said a BJP MLA, insisting that computers should have actually been gifted instead of just leased to legislators.

All in the family

The last two rows of the treasury appear to have been reserved for the women brigade of the NDA. With a few exceptions it is usually a silent bench. Once JD (U) legislator Manju Hazari raised a question related to establishing administrative buildings in her constituency. She had uttered a few lines when an elderly legislator of her party started to speak. The MLA happened to be Ram Sewak Hazari, her sasur (father-in-law). It made the House burst into laughter. Usually, an MLA asking the question has the first right to speak. “Will you speak or will he (Hazari) speak on the subject?” asked the speaker. “Like a good bahu (daughter-in-law), Manju gave way to her sasur to speak,” said a ruling party MLA. Another lady MLA said she was lucky to have three family members in the House to help her. “My husband has to stop outside the gates of the Assembly,” she said. The Hazari family has four members in Assembly.

Silence of Congress

When Mahachandar Singh formally joined the JD (U) he was a Congress MLC. The Congress leaders demanded action against Singh under the anti-defection law. “Why do you want to get your hand soiled? Mahachandar's term in the House will be over in another four days,” said a senior MLA of the Congress, insisting that the party should not make him a hero by expelling him. Incidentally, the new friend of chief minister Nitish Kumar quit the very next day with just three days of his six-year tenure left as an MLC. He has the assured support of Nitish to make it to the state legislative council for the fifth time, though.

Missing minister

Health minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey has been in news for wrong reasons. He skipped the Assembly despite questions related to his department raised. RJD MLA Raghvendra Pratap Singh called him the missing minister “We as MLAs can afford to go missing. But as a minister, Choubeyji cannot,” Singh said in the House. Choubey did come on Thursday and entered into a verbal duel with Leader of the Opposition Abdul Bari Siddiqui and two other RJD MLAs over appointments in Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences. The minister declared that the RJD MLAs did not read before putting in questions. “Choubeyji was better-off missing,” said another MLA.