Bungalow menace

The new nominated chairman of the Assembly housing panel, Ramanuj Prasad, appears to be much in demand. Recently, when the panel held its first meeting, newly elected MLAs flooded him with requests for a bungalow. "Every new MLA dreams to shift to the Raj-era sprawling bungalows. They do not know that the numbers of such bungalows are limited with the high court judges and top government officials being also claimants to those. Most of the new MLAs will have to live in rented accommodation as the new apartments for them are far from complete," said a senior MLA, adding that the panel chairman was candid in explaining to them the difficulty. "Ramanuj told the MLAs that they should approach him if they find minor problems like drainage, water supply and damp conditions in the rented accommodation," the senior MLA added.

Achchhe din for Lalu

Early morning commuters cannot miss spotting the crowd that gathers around 10 Circular Road, the official residence of Rabri Devi and Lalu Prasad. Right from the poor seeking blankets to fight the cold to officials seeking favours from the new regime to political workers seeking a slice in the new set-up - all of them are there. An old-timer RJD worker said: "It is a dramatic change. Before the elections, the house appeared deserted. But this is like the good old days, when Lalu ji was in power. For Laluji, achchhe din aa gaye (good days have come for Laluji)."

About hearts and action

Deputy chief minister Tejaswi is using social media to his advantage. To counter Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Mann Ki Baat, he started Dil Ki Baat on his Facebook account. His supporters now say he intends to go one step further by starting Kaam Ki Baat (Talks about work). He now wants to be projected as a man of action rather than words, said an RJD leader, pointing towards Tejaswi's swift action in getting scholarship pending for the students belonging to the downtrodden class.