The joy of the election victory extended to Chhath celebrations at chief minister-elect Nitish Kumar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad's homes.
Unlike last year when her husband Lalu was in hospital after a heart surgery, it was a very special occasion for former chief minister Rabri Devi, who has been observing Chhath rituals for 30 years now. Most family members - including Lalu's youngest son-in-law and MP Tej Pratap Yadav, who had come from Uttar Pradesh - were present at Rabri's 10 Circular Road residence during arghya (obeisance).
The house bore a festive look as folk singers, especially called in for the festival, sang Chhath songs. Lalu personally supervised everything. His two sons, newly elected MLAs Tej Pratap and Tejaswi, and daughter Misa Bharti helped Rabri with the rituals. Tejaswi and Tej Pratap passed on a soop (wooden basket) with apples, bananas, coconuts, sugarcane and other materials, to Rabri when she entered the swimming pool to offer first arghya to the setting Sun on Tuesday. Similar was the mood when Rabri offered the second and last arghya to the rising Sun on Wednesday morning.
Four of Lalu's seven daughters, namely Misa, Raj Lakshmi, Anushka and Ragini, had come for the festival. Misa said: "Chhath has always been celebrated in a grand way at our house, except for last year when my father was unwell. This year was really special. You can say the joy was double after the Grand Alliance's victory," she said.
After Chhath concluded, Rabri applied tilak (a mark made with red paste on the forehead) on her children. Tej Pratap and Tejaswi touched her feet. Then Rabri touched the feet of her "Saheb" (the way she addresses Lalu) and he blessed her.
Rabri said: "I give my best wishes to all mothers, sisters and families in Bihar and across the country who have celebrated Chhath." Lalu called Chhath an eco-friendly festival and posted on Facebook that it had a socialist thought. "All ingredients used in this festival are natural... do not need saints... no show off modernization..." he wrote. He said according to people Chhath had gone international because of him but said he had become popular because of people's " love, affection and support".
At 7 Circular Road, Nitish offered arghya at a small, artificial pond. His sister-in-law Geeta Devi and relatives Renu Sinha, Vibha Kumari and Rekha Devi observed Chhath. On Tuesday evening, Nitish inspected the ghats on a steamer from Nasriganj to Gai Ghat with his poll campaign manager Prashant Kishor and senior officials. On Wednesday morning, he offered arghya to the rising Sun.
On the first day of the festival, Nahay Khay, Nitish had visited Lalu's residence where Rabri put a tilak on him.
