Snakes and snacks

Since the break-up, Lalu and his clan never take chief minister Nitish Kumar's name without adjectives. " Paltu Ram (turncoat)", the term Lalu used, is actually the mildest. They have even compared Nitish to a snake. "Like snakes, Nitish needs to leave his skin every two years," Lalu said.

A Twitter account in the name of Lalu's eldest son Tej Pratap Yadav even congratulated Nitish on the occasion of Nag Panchami, which fell a day after the Grand Alliance broke apart. "It meant that Nitish was a hidden snake in the Grand Alliance," said a supporter, explaining the tweet. RJD leaders confessed that some of the remarks used in private conversation were unprintable. "But it is natural for them," said a JDU leader stressing that they were not bothered by what adjectives Lalu and his clan used for Nitish. "Suddenly they have lost power. One visiting 10 Circular Road will be lucky to even get a cup of tea, as most government staff have been withdrawn."

Friends & fortunes

BJP minister Nand Kishore Yadav and former minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui are old friends despite being in opposite camps. When Nand Kishore became minister for the first time in 2005, he not only took over Siddiqui's ministry, but also the bungalow Siddiqui occupied. When Siddiqui became a minister again in 2015, he reclaimed the bungalow. There is now speculation that Yadav might occupy the bungalow again. Siddiqui has been made chairman of the public accounts committee of the Assembly, a post Yadav held till the collapse of the Grand Alliance government. "The two should be given adjoining bungalows so that whenever their designations change, only the signboards on their gates need to be changed," said a politician.

5 Circular Road jinx

New BJP ministers don't want to occupy an "inauspicious bungalow" on 5 Circular Road. An earlier occupant, now Buxar MP Ashwini Choubey, "was dismissed as health minister in June 2013", recalled a BJP minister. "Later, on a pilgrimage to Kedarnath in Uttarakhand, he and family were caught in flash floods." The RJD's Chandrika Rai was told about the jinx during allotment of this flat and shifted there a year later. "He enjoyed ministerial perks for just 8 months," an RJD leader said.

The revelation

During the recent one-day session, road construction minister Nand Kishore Yadav terrorised RJD MLAs. RJD MLA Lalit Yadav was continuously interrupting him. Nand Kishore declared on the floor of the House that before the 2015 Assembly polls, Lalit had approached him for a BJP ticket. "The next time I will surely give tickets to Lalit and many other RJD leaders who came seeking BJP tickets," he said leaving many red faces. "It's unfair of Nand Kishor to reveal names. It arouses suspicion in our leader, Lalu Prasad," said another RJD leader.