Deputy chief minister of Jharkhand Hemant Soren created ripples at a function organised by the lone Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MLA in the state, Sumit Kumar Singh. Soren, who had to climb a high stage at the function, grumbled, “The stage is too tall.” A couple of JD (U) leaders were tickled. “The lone JMM MLA in Bihar is the son of senior minister Narendra Singh. Everybody knows that Sumit won the Assembly seat not because he had a JMM ticket but because his father supported him at the Chakai Assembly seat, which was given to a BJP candidate,” said a JD (U) leader. The leader insisted Soren did not deserve the tall stage because the party virtually had no existence in the state.
Around 36 district leaders of the JD (U) pledged loyalty to the party in front of its disciplinary committee. They also rubbished the complaints of the candidates that the district leaders played dirty during the Assembly polls. “I slogged for him (the candidate) and ensured every vote from my village goes to him. I do not know why he said I had worked against him,” said a JD (U) leader from Aurangabad. “Almost every district leader said the same thing. They all want to be on the right side of politics. It matters in the districts when they have to go to the district offices to get their work done,” said a senior JD (U) leader. Of course, nobody would elieve that the dissident JD (U) leaders would remain firm on their loyalty pledge. “They will do it again in the future. But the district leaders hardly matter. It is the big ones like Lallan Singh, Monazir Hassan, Sushil Singh and others who really matter,” h e added. Journalists covering deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi’s events know that he has always been tech-savvy. He was among the first politicians in the state to get acquainted with aptops and palm tops and make them tools of communication. Recently, the last two words of his mails read “Sushil Media” instead of Sushil Modi. It drew wisecracks from the Opposition. “I have always maintained that Modiji is not a leader of the masses. He keeps himself afloat through chhapas (media),” said an RJD leader. However, the BJP leaders pointed out that the Opposition was only envious of Modi because he was always ahead in using technology for media publicity. “Till today, the RJD is just confined to text messages,” said a BJP leader. Till recently, going to office outside Patna in personal vehicles used to be a solo affair. But the rise in fuel price appears to have forced people to make friends with others in their locality, who go to the same place for work. “I found four more people in my neighbourhood who go to Ara in their cars daily. We had a meeting and now all of us travel to and from Ara in one car. We take turns in using our cars,” said a government employee who lives in Ashiyana Nagar. “If the prices shoot up further, the number of commuters in each car may increase,” he added.
