Uttar Pradesh
“They hate whatever good and positive is being done by the government just like thieves hate moonlit nights,” he joked. In another quip, the CM said that even setting up of anti-Romeo squads rubbed them the wrong way, and the House exploded with laughter.
Shivpal’s Pain Resurfaces
For a change, Shivpal Yadav seems to be on the same page with estranged nephew and SP president Akhilesh Yadav—on allying with BSP chief Mayawati to counter the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. But he’s still sulking over the SP’s rout in recent UP Assembly polls. “Had Akhilesh fought the Assembly election under Netaji (Mulayam), he would have been the CM today,” Shivpal said in Azamgarh
BIHAR
Jai Sri Ram in Assembly
After JD(U) comfortably won the trust vote in the Assembly, one of its MLAs, Khurshid Alam, was seen engaged in an animated conversation with an RJD legislator, Arun Yadav. Alam, who was minister for sugarcane in the grand alliance government, gladly raised his voice when TV journalists brought their cameras closer. “Jai Sri Ram,” he chanted, showing off the red threads tied to his right wrist. Yadav chided him, saying, “You are a fake Muslim”. But Alam retorted: “Nobody stops being a Muslim by chanting Jai Sri Ram”. He was inducted as a minister in the new JD(U)-BJP Cabinet on Saturday.
Nitish and Namaaz
During the debate in the Assembly on Nitish Kumar’s trust vote, Tejashwi Yadav spoke for 45 minutes and excoriated Kumar and BJP. When Kumar stood up to speak, everyone expected a longer speech with point-by-point rebuttal of the young leader’s accusations. But Kumar, who was the last speaker, delivered a hard-hitting rebuttal in a speech lasting just 10 minutes. “It was a Friday, and it was noon already. The CM wanted the Assembly session to end so that Muslim MLAs could go and offer namaaz,” explained one JD(U) legislator who has now become a minister.
Political Chest and Hair
RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav is known for his bragging and bargaining skills, but neither worked when it came to saving the grand alliance government. When journalists asked him about BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi’s demands that Tejashwi must resign, Yadav got angry and shot back: “Sushil Modi has no hair on his chest.” Yadav then parted the top portion of his kurta under the neck and showed journalists his own chest. As television cameras eagerly focused on the many grey strands visible, Yadav realised his unseemly act and hurriedly asked journalists to leave. “Do not publish news only about the 56-inch chest,” said one RJD leader in jest to a TV journalist.