LJP leaders take Paswan praise with pinch of salt

The LJP chief, Ram Vilas Paswan, has of late become the most commended politician of Bihar. he praise showered by different parties’ leaders on a person who virtually went into political oblivion after losing the Hajipur Lok Sabha seat in 2009 has left the political circle amused. Chief minister Nitish Kumar called him an old friend and the RJD chief, Lalu Prasad, said he was a good man. “One only has to rewind the clock and find the words they (Lalu and Nitish) have used to describe him in the past,” said a senior politician. The LJP leaders have taken the praise showered on Paswan with a pinch of salt. “While both the JD(U) and the RJD want him as an ally in the Lok Sabha elections, neither have specified the number of seats they were willing to give to the LJP,” said an LJP office-bearer, stressing that in politics one should become alert when he/she is being praised. “There is always a motive behind praising a rival,” he added. A BJP leader said it was just a matter of time when praises would transform into curses. The Congress has gone on record to denounce Nitish’s praise and termed it “sheer opportunism”.

Hello! Can you hear Modi?

JP leader and former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi must have realised during his second janata durbar as an opposition leader that things were not going the way he planned. He had to face a woman demanding Rajya Sabha nomination so that she could serve the nation. “Now that Bihar officials know that Modiji holds his janata durbar on Tuesdays, they make themselves inaccessible. Often they pretend that they cannot hear what Modi is saying from the other side and keep repeating ‘hello’,” said a BJP leader.

Signal scam slur on cops

Police constables have been manning the traffic at the Dakbungalow roundabout, the city’s most busy commercial hub, ever since the traffic signals have been out of order. A few motorists claimed that the signals had been switched off deliberately. “When the signals work, constables have little role in the movement of traffic. But, when the traffic is managed manually, the cops extort money from virtually anyone they can lay their hands on - motorcyclists, thelawalas (cart-pullers), rickshaw-pullers and even car drivers. It is a signal scam,” said an official in the secretariat.

Girlfriend’s wedding

Dropped JD(U) Rajya Sabha MP Sabir Ali wore a gloomy look at the filing of nomination papers for three fresh JD(U) candidates at the state legislative building premises. Politicians who flashed a smile at him were met with an icy look. “You cannot blame Sabir. He feels that he was entitled for a renomination in the Rajya Sabha. Instead, he has to see his seat being taken away by another person. It’s like having to attend your girlfriend’s marriage,” said a JD(U) minister, who was present at the event.