Darkness beyond dazzling capital

Development and lightsazzling lights do not always mean development. RJD chief Lalu Prasad appeared amused when novelist Chetan Bhagat lauded Nitish Kumar for the development in Bihar. “The novelist must have seen the bright lights coming from the hoardings put up on Bailey Road,” he told an acquaintance, insisting that the writer should have gone outside Patna to see the darkness prevailing in the state. But even in Lalu days celebrities rarely ventured outside Patna. The road leading to a posh hotel is wide with greeneries around it. “Several Bollywood stars used to praise Patna as a green city. I wish they had ventured out on other roads filled with potholes and garbage,” said an MLA who was a minister in the Lalu-Rabri era.

Powerless minister

Power minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav is considered a no-nonsense man who can scare any official with his glare. But some MLAs claimed that he had turned powerless after becoming the energy minister. “You have a factory which claims to repair and make transformers. But a transformer from my area was sent for repair two months ago and it has not returned yet. It seems you do not run a factory but a dukan (shop),” said RJD MLA Raghvendra Pratap Singh, stressing that the minister had become powerless. “Perhaps Raghvendra can replace Jagdanand Singh,” said an MLA of the JD (U), recalling that Yadav and Jagdanand never missed an opportunity to corner each other in the Assembly. After Jagdanand was elected to Parliament in the last Lok Sabha elections, the MLAs were missing the verbal duels.

Not missing madam

The RJD MLAs are not missing former Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar assembly Rabri Devi. An RJD MLA said despite shrunken numbers their present leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui had been able to make a mark as the Leader of the Opposition, as he takes on the treasury with facts and figures without allowing his MLAs to enter the Well of the House. “Madam used to provoke us to enter the Well, leading to disruption of the proceedings of the House,” he said. Old-timers insisted that after Sushil Kumar Modi left the post of the Leader of the Opposition, there was a huge void. It could not be filled either by his successor Upendra Kushwah or Rabri Devi. “It is Siddiqui who has restored the dignity of the office,” another RJD MLA said.

Hostile friends

Road construction minister Nand Kishore Yadav was shocked when he saw his friends turn enemies in the House. A matter related to rebuilding a collapsed bridge in the Kosi area saw nine NDA MLAs, led by Neerja Singh of the JD (U), jeering him as they were not satisfied with the assurance given by the minister. With anger and resentment the minister was forced to give a timeframe for reconstructing the bridge. “Forget the party we are in. If the bridge is not made on time, people will throw stones at us,” said an MLA.