Sorry, it’s Sunday but you got to work

Workaholic chief minister Nitish Kumar keeps officers on their toes even on Sundays but he makes it a point to apologise to them for disturbing them on their weekly off day. “The chief minister never forgets to apologise for disturbing us on Sundays but the work he asks us to do is as rigorous as any working day,” a bureaucrat said. ecently, Nitish called a very senior officer to a meeting on Sunday and began with a customary apology. The officer, slated to retire soon, said: “Sir, I have just a few Sundays left.” But he too might be given new responsibilities after superannuating like several other retired officers. “If the officer does not get a reemployment he can be satisfied with the fact that he would have a peaceful Sunday,” said another IAS officer.

Change of colour

The switchover of three MLCs of the LJP to the JD(U) has not gone down well with the ticket aspirants in the ruling party. “We have been sweating it out for the party for over a decade but people from the Congress, the RJD and the LJP join our party before polls and block our chances of getting tickets,” a party worker said. With the biennial polls for the Bihar Legislative Council to be held next year, deserters from other parties are expected to face hostile reception from the JD(U) party workers. But senior JD(U) leaders stressed that watching LJP diminish was a pleasure for chief minister Nitish Kumar. In the 2005 Assembly polls, LJP had bagged 28 seats and held the key for government formation. Paswan not only rebuffed calls from Nitish to join hands then. He even spoilt the efforts to split the LJP by getting around a dozen of his MLAs to fly to Delhi on a chartered flight.

Gaining confidence

The Congress state president, Mehboob Ali Quaiser, appears to be gaining confidence. He declared in public recently that action would be taken against over 100 leaders for anti-party activities during the last Assembly polls. He insisted that the action had been delayed because of organisational preoccupation. The sudden outburst against the dissidents has hardly surprised the seasoned party leaders. “Most of the leaders Quaiser wants to take action against might have left the Congress. But he is confident now because he feels that he would not be removed by the party high command. After the Assembly poll debacle he had thought he might be replaced. But it appears that the party high command is not going to touch the Bihar unit before the next Lok Sabha polls,”a senior Congress leader said.

In the name of caste

A petitioner at the Patna district magistrate’s (DM’s) janata darbar demanded a government job. “I hail from the same village and the same caste as yours,” the petitioner told the official. The Patna DM shooed him off. 'But that is how people in Bihar ask for a job. Belonging to the same caste is an additional qualification and hailing from the same village is even better. Ministers and MLAs are flooded with petitions for government jobs from people belonging to their castes or districts. A petitioner at the Patna district magistrate’s (DM's) janata darbar demanded a government job. “I hail from the same village and the same caste as yours,” the petitioner told the official. The Patna DM shooed him off. “But that is how people in Bihar ask for a job. elonging to the same caste is an additional qualification and hailing from the same village is even better. Ministers and MLAs are flooded with petitions for government jobs from people belonging to their castes or districts,” said petitioner.