Former top cop turns active soldier of RJD

Former director-general of police (DGP) Ashish Ranjan Sinha’s juniors might frown at him for teaching the security guards at 10 Circular Road how to conduct a drill on Independence Day but the former top cop appears to have no qualms. He declared that he had become a soldier of the RJD. Sinha was the DGP when Nitish Kumar became the chief minister in 2005. He was considered close to Nitish and at one time there were strong indications that he would be fielded by the JD(U)) from the Nalanda parliamentary seat. But suddenly he was removed from the DGP’s post and he became a supporter of the RJD after retirement. He even addressed public meetings with Lalu Prasad before the last Assembly polls,” recalled an IPS officer. On Sinha's training to the security persons at Lalu and Rabri Devi's home, another IPS officer said: “In Rome, you behave like Romans.”

Tributes to Khan

Lawyer-cum-politician Shakeel Ahmad Khan was known for his oratory skill. His favourite subject was communal forces and the Sangh parivar but he funded renovation of several temples. A BJP leader from Gaya recalled after Khan’s sudden demise that as an MLA the latter spent a substantial amount of his local development fund in renovation of temples. “It used to be so easy for BJP supporters to get funds from Shakeel Sahib. On several occasions, they approached him saying a Shiv linga had surfaced from the ground and they would like to construct a temple. Shakeel Sahib always obliged,' recalled the leader, stressing that despite his powerful speeches against the BJP, Khan always maintained a personal relationship with the leaders of his party.

Nitish matters most

If the state BJP leaders thought they could take the credit of installing Amarendra Pratap Singh as the deputy Speaker of Assembly and Awadh Narayan Singh as the chairman of Bihar Legislative Council, they were mistaken. One of the two confessed that the BJP leaders did not inform him about his selection. 'Chief minister Nitish Kumar told me about the development,' he said. Everybody in the NDA appears to know who matters the most. 'That is why, when Nitishji appeals for funds from his party MPs and legislators for any JD(U) programme, several BJP MPs and MLAs chip in on their own,' said a senior BJP leader, stressing that any leader of his party first goes to 1 Aney Marg to thank Nitish after getting any significant post.

Hope for Dal dissidents

Three dissident MPs of the JD(U) might find a place in the good book of chief minister Nitish Kumar again. According to sources, the party has included the names of Rajiv Ranjan alias Lallan Singh, Sushil Singh and Mangani Lal Mandal in the list of leaders sent to the Speaker of Lok Sabha for inclusion in House panels. Last year, the party had not included the three MPs in the list and had even petitioned for their disqualification for anti-party activities. “MPs get into the panels of the House even without the party’s recommendation. But the point is that there appears to be hope for Lallan and Sushil to return to the party fold. Mandal, however, has openly said that he would contest the next Lok Sabha polls on an RJD ticket,” said a senior JD(U) MP.