Sakshi speaks to deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi at his janata durbar on Tuesday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Lalu Prasad took 16 days to fulfil his promise but deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi has kept 13-year-old Sakshi Raj waiting for little less than two-and-a-half years for a laptop.

The wait could be over by Wednesday night though.

Sakshi, a Class VIII student of Divya Bhaskar Public School in Ara and a professional singer, had impressed Modi with her performance at a public function in the district. He had swiftly decided to gift her a laptop with government funds. That was in November 2011.

The fulfilment wasn’t too prompt, though. It took at least two visits to Modi’s janata durbar for Sakshi to get closer to her laptop.

Sakshi, who has Bhojpuri devotional albums to her name, had also wowed RJD chief Lalu Prasad. Sakshi had performed during Lalu’s Parivartan Yatra meet at Ramna Maidan in Ara on January 4. The RJD chief announced a reward of Rs 51,000 for her and, 16 days later, Sakshi got the cheque.

Rewind to last year — Sakshi, daughter of a farmer, visited Modi’s durbar on August 21, 2012. Modi recognised her and iterated his promise of gifting Sakshi the laptop. After a wait of eight more months, she reached 1 Polo Road — Modi’s official residence — on Tuesday to once again remind him.

As she went up to Modi’s table with her application, Modi smiled. Before he could say anything, Sakshi said: “Sir, it’s been two years since you promised me to gift me a laptop but I have not received it yet. In fact, I have made several visits to your residence at Rajendra Nagar with my father Vishwanath Prasad, but we were not even allowed to meet you.”

“Sir, is there is any chance to get the laptop now? Can you do something?” the 13-year-old asked.

Without a pause, Modi replied: “You do one thing, stay in Patna today (Tuesday). Do not go home and by tomorrow (Wednesday), you will get the laptop. Are you alone or is anybody else accompanying you?”

Her 25-year-old brother Amit Kumar had come along with Sakshi this time and he went up to Modi’s table.

The deputy chief minister took a prompt action — he asked the duo to stay back the night, give their contact number to one of his officials and take the laptop home.

The official concerned came to Modi’s table and saved Amit’s cellphone number.

Watching all the procedure before her, a big smile flashed on Sakshi’s face — as if the prized laptop was already in her hand. “It is the happiest day of my life. I have waited for more than two years and I do not mind waiting for one more day. It’s just a matter of 24 hours. It is not a big deal,” she said.

Brother and sister will stay back at a relative’s house at Rajendra Nagar. The official has assured them of contacting them by Wednesday evening and hand over the laptop for Sakshi’s use.