Wrong step
One can never predict which action will backfire. When the stars are not aligned right, anything and everything could go wrong. This happened with the Rashtriya Janata Dal legislator, Mukesh Kumar Raushan, recently when he moved a private member’s bill in the Bihar legislative assembly demanding Bharat Ratna for his party president, Lalu Prasad. The move was an effort to protect his constituency, Mahua, from Prasad’s elder son, Tej Pratap Yadav, who is keen to contest from there in the upcoming assembly elections. Vijay Kumar Choudhary, a state minister and Janata Dal (United) leader, asserted that the state government recommends names for Bharat Ratna and the Padma awards every year around September and that there is no proposition for Prasad as a nominee yet. The assembly then rejected the resolution with a voice vote. What happened later was much more than what Raushan had bargained for. Outside the House, JD(U) and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders slammed Raushan’s demand by raking up the fodder scam in which Prasad was convicted. The deputy chief minister and senior BJP leader, Vijay Kumar Sinha, said: “Demanding Bharat Ratna for a man who made Bihar infamous for crime, corruption, and massacres is an insult to the people of the state. He was convicted and jailed by the court. Demanding the top award for him is like giving gaalis to the public.” Further, sources claim that Prasad’s family is angry with Raushan for his action that drew such piercing responses from the ruling parties. Raushan is now regretting his hasty plan.
Double life
It is surprising for a politician to defend private airline operators that charge high fares. The BJP member of Parliament, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, however, dared to do so. Possibly because he is the only parliamentarian who holds a commercial pilot’s license. He has flown a passenger aircraft and has previously served as the civil aviation minister.
Rajiv Pratap Rudy - MP - Kalimpong.
Participating in a discussion in the Lok Sabha over a private member’s bill seeking regulation of airfares, Rudy sought to educate his colleagues about the factors that influence fares. This came amid an outcry from MPs across the political spectrum who demanded the government regulate the rising airfares. Rudy argued that the high operational costs incurred by airline operators pass on to the passengers. “Every minute spent in the air is a cost on the airlines, and the cost gets transferred to passengers,” he said, referring to rising congestion at airports. His defence did not go down well. Many felt that in justifying the high fares, Rudy played the role of a commercial pilot and not a people’s representative.
Out of sync
The Bihar CM, Nitish Kumar, has become synonymous with faux pas. Recently, he was caught waving and talking during the playing of the national anthem at the Sepaktakraw (kick volleyball) World Cup. The latest of his gaffes happened during a photo session for legislators and cabinet ministers at the legislative council. Everybody sitting or standing was frozen in a pose, waiting to be snapped. Suddenly, Kumar started greeting the photographers with folded hands. This continued for several seconds till the veteran JD(U) leader and minister, Bijendra Prasad Yadav, became irritated with Kumar and tapped the latter’s hands to bring them down. Kumar understood this and corrected himself and the photo session could be completed. However, the incident gave fodder to the opposition RJD to question the mental health of the CM once again, dubbing him as just a front for the National Democratic Alliance government.
Grand return
The Congress, which had been written off in Odisha after thedebacle in the last general election, seems to be gaining ground in the state after organising a highly successful rally in the state capital on Thursday. The Mohan Charan Majhi government had not anticipated such a high turnout at the rally and ignored the Congress’s call for an‘assembly gherao’ on the issue of crimes against women. However,the strategy devised by the newly-appointed Odisha Congress in-charge, Ajay Kumar Lallu, a close aide of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president, BhaktaCharan Das, proved Majhi wrong. The duo worked tirelessly to make the rally a success.
Thousands turned up at the rally, and violence erupted, leaving more than 40 Congress workers and 15 policemen injured. The rally’s success gave the Congress a much-needed fillip and boosted the receding morale of its cadre. The Majhi government was caught off-guard by this sudden political development and found itself on the back foot. The Congress seems to have secured its position as the principal Opposition party in Odisha in the public’s perception, replacing the Biju Janata Dal, at least for the time being.
