Thames Ganga same same

Road construction minister Nand Kishore Yadav brought back old memories when at a public function he declared that the banks of the in Patna Ganga will have settlements like on the banks of the Thames in London. A senior officer recalled that former urban development minister Ashwani Choubey (currently a BJP MP) during his tenure had promised to turn Patna into Paris. “He almost achieved in making it into a floating city with rainwater not being able to be drained out due to blocked gutters. At that time officials of his department joked that the only way Patna can be made into Paris is to change the name of Patna to Paris. Now Nand Kishoreji would like us to change the name of Ganga to Thames,” said an amused official pointing to the Ganga driveway, which is taking an abnormally long time.

Lunch culture

A lunch hosted by deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi recently in which journalists and political leaders were invited has sparked debate. "Even Tejashwi Yadav hosted a lunch for journalists and politicians, but Modi ji made personal calls to each individual himself, followed by reminders. Tejashwi had his aids call invitees just once," said a senior politician. But the man who started the "lunch culture" is chief minister Nitish Kumar. Every year after he released the government report card there would be a lunch in which politicians, officials and politicians would mingle. "But Nitish for the last three years he has given the tradition a go by," remarked an official.

Dropping names

There is a BJP office-bearer in Patna who others are tired of. "He drops the name of a Union minister after every two or three sentences as if the Union minister is seeking his advice on every issue," mourned another office-bearer, insisting that most office-bearers owe their place due to the influence of some Union minister or central leader. "But nobody else keeps dropping names in the manner he does," the leader remarked wondering if he and others also should start dropping names

All for Dalits

BJP workers say they had a tough time at the party function to celebrate the birth anniversary of Sant Ravi Das "to woo a section of Dalits". "A lot of women from the community we had brought to the hall had brought their babies who kept on yelling and crying throughout the programme. Nobody recognised the Union minister we had brought to be the chief guest, and half the crowd was gone after deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi had spoken," said a BJP worker. "The women we had brought were insistent that they wanted to return home and we had to buy biscuits and other eatables to ensure they stay in the hall when the chief guest spoke."