Lalufication of JD(U)

With Shakeel Ahmad Khan, the one-time close associate of Lalu Prasad, likely to join the JD(U) in the near future, the BJP leaders feel its ally - the JD(U) - is undergoing a metamorphosis. “It is called the Lalufication of the JD(U),” a senior BJP leader said. he leader pointed out that when his party was in the Opposition, several of the leaders inducted in the JD(U), including Md Taslimuddin, Ramai Ram, Shyam Rajak and Shakeel Ahmad Khan, were the faces of the Lalu-Rabri raj. “One just has to go through the records of the Assembly to find the uncharitable remarks made by the present deputy chief minister, Sushil Kumar Modi as the Leader of the Opposition then, about these leaders and vice versa,” the BJP leader said. Insisting that he was not enthusiastic about his new allies, another senior BJP leader said: “All that Nitish Kumar has to do is to include Lalu Prasad, Subhash Yadav, Sadhu Yadav, Md Shahbuddiin in the party.”

Friends turn foes

Equations change frequently in politics. Dissident JD(U) MP Lallan Singh and the same party’s MP from Jehanabad Jagdish Sharma were great pals. Last year, Sharma hobnobbed with him in Kisan Maha Panchayat meetings before withdrawing himself and returning to the Nitish fold. But the alleged irregularities in the Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority land allocations appear to have turned friends into foes. Sharma, whose son is beneficiary, appeared to be convinced that Lallan had a hand in “planting” the news. The Jehnabad MP was heard giving a piece of his mind on phone to Lallan in the Assembly. “It is not new in politics. Old friends do turn bitter rivals,” a senior politician said, pointing towards the case of Lalu Prasad and the JD(U) MP, Ranjan Prasad Yadav.

English only

The war of nerves between the ministers and the top officers in their department is quite old. All the noting and proposals come to a minister in English. According to the officers of the department, English is a better language for them than Hindi. “Initially the noting, drafts and proposals were sent in Hindi. But the minister used to shoot them down by putting in at least 10 queries. Then we started to send the files in English. They used to return without any comment. The minister considers himself too much of an intellectual to admit that he has no patience to go through the files which are in English and clears them quickly putting his signature on them in English,” an official said.

Purbey, the fall guy

Former minister and state RJD president Ram Chandra Purbey is now being referred as the fall guy. Shekeel Ahmad Khan, while disassociating himself from the RJD, gave copies to the reporters about a letter he had written to Purbey five months ago asking him to initiate action against those sabotaging the prospects of the party’s official candidates. “Poor Purbey, he was asked to do what none of his predecessors had done. It’s a well-known fact that the state party president is always a figurehead with the actual power being wielded by Lalu Prasad. Anybody who wants to go out of the party picks on Purbeyji instead of criticising Laluji,” a senior RJD leader said.