Patna Briefs

Out of the flock

There is a general feeling that the recent ruckus in the Bihar legislature and the Opposition demand for resignation of the chief minister and his deputy, has helped the NDA partners — BJP and JD(U) — to bridge the divide which had become apparent after Nitish Kumar took exception to advertisements carrying his picture with his Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi. The NDA leaders not only appeared in their statements but they also motivated workers to hit the streets for exposing the alleged sinister designs of the Opposition parties in Bihar. here is a JD(U) MP, earlier a minister in Nitish’s government, who appears to be unaware of the latest developments. For, he gave a statement in which he claimed that Nitish’s popularity has been a reason for the heartburn of not only Opposition parties, but also of coalition partner BJP. Not only this, he went on to claim that BJP national president Nitin Gadkari loses balance while issuing statements and neither he nor L.K. Advani has the quality of becoming Prime Minister of the country. The JD(U) MP claimed that Nitish is the material for this post and under his leadership the country would get the right direction.

Sound bites

Talk about sound pollution and the best place you would not want to venture is Frazer Road. ith Vishal Megamart turning into a shoppers’ paradise for Patnaites, the endless babble resonating from huge sound boxes is bound to give the older generation and even the young blood an unnecessary headache. hings turn ugly over the weekends when the almost suffocating crowd, owing to the oppressive humidity, is hit by these amplifiers. It doesn’t end just at this as whenever the shopping centre witnesses a thin crowd, the residents are “greeted” by the latest Bollywood numbers screeching through these monstrous machines. The Patna police seem either deaf or have got invisible earplugs, for an action is not even on the horizon.

Ol’ times sake

Change” is in the air in Patna as elections approach. Political parties are on their toes over possibility of their flock deserting them. Known political sources indicate that the Congress high command is eager to get back leaders of other parties having an “old Congress link”. he targeted leaders appear to be tight-lipped. Chandrika Rai, a former minister of the RJD regime and son of former chief minister Daroga Prasad Rai, is a potential target. Well, everything is not politics. My father had very close ties with leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi,” remarked Chandrika Rai. There are several others who have begun to speak about their cordial relations with the Congress. It is giving sleepless nights to the RJD and JD(U) leaders.

Just beat it

The R-Block of Patna, located near the Assembly building, is the hub of demonstrations. Whenever the Assembly is in session, the area is seized with protesters belonging to various groups: political, government employees, semi-government, NGOs… name it and they are all there. However, the last Assembly session saw RJD-LJP workers entering the restricted area and prompting the police to wield their lathis on agitators indiscriminately. “The place has become too dangerous. We got beaten up for no fault of ours. We had just planned a peaceful dharna,” wailed a trade union leader of a government employee organisation.