Governor transfer whiff in capital

Tthe Congress insiders are to be believed, the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government might finally get rid of Governor Devanand Konwar. According to them, onwar would be one of the around half a dozen overnors to be given new assignments by the entre in near future. Konwar went to Delhi but failed to get ppointment of any senior central leader,” a senior Congress leader said. The Congress’s senior leaders are cut up with Konwar apparently because he refused to grant time to a delegation of the party for handing him over a memorandum against the Nitish government. “The Centre is also agitated over the appointments of vice-chancellors (VCs) he has made,” the Congress leader said. Konwar has proved to be the most difficult governor Nitish has had. The conflict between Raj Bhavan and the human resource development department has hit the universities of Bihar hard. The NDA leaders may be glad to see the back of Konwar but they are worried about his successor. “We can just hope that the Centre sends a rational governor to Bihar who would not select controversial VCs,” a senior JD(U) leader said.

Politics of death

The Bihar leaders seem to be more interested in the issues having potential to attract votes. For instance, the RJD, LJP and Congress leaders have been crying hoarse over the police firing in a Forbesganj village, which left four persons belonging to a minority community dead. But they are hardly concerned with the death of over 40 children in the wake of a mystery disease in the Muzaffarpur region. The doctors and experts are battling to find out the cause and nature of the disease and the kids, particularly those belonging to the below poverty line families, are dying like flies because of the disease, suspected to be Japanese encephalitis. But the large-scale death of poor kids hardly appears to be a cause of concern for the leaders. “They (Opposition leaders) see a chance to win the favour of the minority community by crying hoarse over the police firing at Forbesganj. The death of kids of mystery disease is, perhaps, not catchy from the point of view of electoral gains,” a doctor dealing with the disease afflicting the kids in the Muzaffarpur region said.

Exercise for vigour

JD(U) MP-turned-rebel exercises vigorously. Believed to have four wives, he does the aerobics with the vigour of a robust athlete. He is seen working out hard and bathed in sweat in the morning. “One of his wives is in her early 30s and he believes that the exercises will keep him potent,” one of his colleagues in the Rajya Sabha said. Asked if the vigorous exercises can keep the libido up even in 60s, a senior doctor said: “See, the way you lose your strength in your muscles, bones and other organs, you lose your potency with the advancement of the age. The process of ageing cannot be reversed through workout and exercises can keep you relatively agile and fit.”

Speak little, listen more

The food and civil supplies minister, Shyam Rajak, and agriculture minister Narendra Singh were talking animatedly on the dais when chief minister Nitish Kumar was delivering a speech on how the government was working hard to improve the agriculture and food security in the state on the occasion of Sahajanand Saraswati’s birth anniversary. Irked at his ministers, Nitish said: “You (Singh and Rajak) too should hear what I am saying. After all, you are responsible for implementing what I am telling.” The two ministers immediately said in the same vein: “Sir, we are not talking. We are listening to you.” A ruling party worker in the crowd murmured: “Nitish is like a proverbial school headmaster. He has no compunction in chiding his ministers even on a public platform.”