Instant effect of CM snub

The snub given to rural development minister Bhim Singh by chief minister Nitish Kumar at janata darbar on Monday had an instant effect on officials. “I saw a junior officer who left the table whispering that he had urgent work in office rushing back to his seat. After all, if a minister can be publicly snubbed, think what can happen to officers,” said an IAS officer. fficers said that Nitish had his own way of snubbing officials. Unlike ministers or politicians who Nitish snubs publicly, he chooses to give a piece of his mind to officers inside closed doors,” said an officer, recalling that a senior IAS officer at the CM’s secretariat was pulled up for the proposal he had sent to the chief minister’s office. “You do not know how to write a proposal. How did you get into the IAS?” the chief minister fumed. Former chief minister Lalu Prasad believed in publicly humiliating officers. “But Lalu always used to forget everything after some time. But when this man (Nitish) shows his anger in private, there are valid reasons for the official concerned to worry,” said an IAS officer.

Same old Congress

Virtually every political party has elected its leader in the Assembly except one. It’s the Congress. “We have only four MLAs but the formality of electing a leader has to be carried out. Even the three MLA-strong LJP has gone through the ritual,” said a senior Congress leader. One would have thought former Speaker Sadanand Singh would be the natural choice because of his seniority and the fact that he was the only recognised face of the party inside the House. Singh himself declared it hardly mattered if he or someone else became the leader. The state party chief, Mehboob Ali Quaiser, has said the party high command would decide the issue. “However, the high command is least interested in Bihar at the moment and it has given rise to speculation within the party that there is a rift between Singh and Quaiser. “Even when we are down the drain it is the same old Congress,” said a senior party leader.

One-sided mobile

A public relations officer posted at the chief minister’s office found his mobile becoming one-way. Its outgoing calls were barred because his office had not paid the mobile bill, leading to the embarrassing situation. Incidentally, deputy chief minister Sushil Modi’s public relations exercise is more techno savvy than that of the chief minister. Modi uses mobiles, emails, text messages, fax and virtually every tool available to send across his message to the media. “Perhaps the public relations department should follow the Modi pattern,” said an official, wondering how the department could ignore people it had placed at key places.

 

Keeping mum too tough

After the humiliating defeat in the Assembly polls, LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan and RJD boss Lalu Prasad vowed to remain silent on Bihar for six months. Paswan, at a public function on Monday, reminded the audience that three months were still left. He could not stop himself from taking a few digs at the Nitish government, though. He said the state government was fooling the people in the name of development. “Both Paswan and Laluji will do a lot of talking after three months. It is difficult for politicians to remain silent. Silence must have burdened their hearts and mind,” said a member of the audience.