Ambitious ministers, stick to your base
Chief minister Nitish Kumar gave four of his ministers — two each from the JD(U) and the BJP — a tongue lashing recently. Sources said Nitish was angry at the ministers’ unilateral agreement to exchange places on Republic Day.
Ministers were issued notifications that they have to hoist the National Flag at the district headquarters they are in charge of. These four ministers, however, exchanged their districts so that they could hoist the Tricolour in places they have made their political bases. But Nitish got a whiff of the agreement and told them to stay put at their assigned districts. The ministers did try later to cool down the issue, swearing they would stick to the rules. “I wish I can hoist a flag at the Red Fort. But I will hoist it where the chief minister wishes me to do so,” said a crestfallen minister. “He (Nitish) is a strict headmaster for his ministers. Remember how he lashed out at another minister for trying to leave 1 Aney Marg before the janata darbar had ended?” he added.
When Sri Sri Ravi Shankar arrived in Patna, ruling NDA leaders made a beeline for the state guesthouse where the spiritual guru was staying. JD(U) state president Basishtha Narayan Singh and both Dal and BJP leaders were the first ones to arrive at the guesthouse. Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, health minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey and Speaker Uday Narain Choudhary, too, were spotted in the evening when the Sri Sri was giving his discourse. “The ruling party leaders appear to need the blessings of godmen more than the Opposition,” said a seasoned politician, pointing out that Choubey’s house had hosted Baba Ramdev. The yoga practitioner was also known to visit RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s house, until the two developed a “political difference”. Senior bureaucrats are cut-up with an official in the chief minister’s office, who allegedly sounds rude during Seva Yatra. “Through the public announcement system, he (the official) yells out our designations, asking us to be present immediately. This happens even when the chief minister holds his janata darbars in the districts. It’s humiliating in the presence of such a large crowd,” said an officer. No wonder, officers have started avoiding Seva Yatras. A junior official is sent to face the music, err, rudeness. The RJD MP, Jagdanand Singh, has launched an attack on the NDA government for the delay in the Durgawati project but deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi put the blame back on him. Modi hit back, alleging that the delay was because of Singh, who was the water resources minister in the Lalu-Rabri regime. The deputy chief minister continued to dub Singh as the de facto chief minister of Bihar in the Lalu-Rabri regime. The RJD leaders, in private, agree that Singh was the No 2. “But he was not called the de facto chief minister. He was called the chief minister of Kaimur, as all his politics and development projects were confined to that region, from where he was an MLA,” said a former minister.
