Patna Diary: Minister Tej Pratap rides bicycle to office

Minister Tej Pratap rides bicycle to office

Bihar Forest and Environment Minister Tej Pratap Yadav are known for his unique ways. He rode a bicycle to reach his office in the secretariat recently. Pratap, sporting a green cap, waved to onlookers as press photographers ran with him to capture the moment. After he disembarked from his bicycle, he said that everybody should do cycling to keep themselves physically fit.

He claimed that he saw the late Samajwadi Party patron Mulayam Singh Yadav in his dreams and took inspiration. It is expected that people will draw some inspiration from Lalu Prasad’s elder son and use bicycles often.

Ex-CM Manjhi praises Ravana, sparks row

Former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi is known for his independent views. Recently, he said that although Ram and Ravana are mythical characters, Ravana had more mastery over ‘karma kand’ (rituals) than Ram. His flow of ideas did not stop here as he reasoned that whenever Ram faced any problem, he had the support of supernatural powers but Ravana did not have the same privilege.

Earlier too, he had spoken about the medical benefits of consuming liquor in small quantities even when CM Nitish Kumar is firm on keeping the liquor ban without any laxity. 

Youth power to be Bihar Diwas’ theme this year

‘Yuva Shakti, Bihar ki pragati’ will be the theme of this year’s Bihar Diwas, which will be held on March 22. Bihar has a glorious history of 111 years after its bifurcation from Bengal Presidency in 1912.

Patna divisional commissioner Kumar Ravi and district magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh took stock of preparations for the three-day grand celebration at the historic Gandhi Maidan in Patna. Singers like Javed Ali, Maithili Thakur and Dipali Sahay will regale the audience. Ghazal by Talat Aziz and qawwali by Niyaz brothers will be presented on the occasion. 

Ramashankar
Our correspondent in Bihar
ramashankar@ newindianexpress.com