Cool Bihari: Down but not out

Hey Laloo may be down but not yet out of action for sure. Nitish Kumar may have nudged him in the race to become Newsmaker of the Year but Laloo is never short of tricks and tantrums to keep people bemused.

I was off my seat when I read this article about his comments on being given the second deadline for vacating Annie Marg residence. It must be hard for him and his family to relocate, but just read the punch lines he is giving to the media.

Reacting to the second notice served on December 13 by the building construction department to former Chief Minister Rabri Devi to vacate the sprawling bungalow within a week, her husband and Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Prasad accompanied by a battery of TV reporters visited the proposed residence '10 Circular Road', earlier occupied by his brother-in-law Sadhu Yadav.

After inspecting the building in which repair works were on, he said the house was not yet ready and there was no hope of it getting completed in seven days.

Lalu told reporters on Friday he would move to the new bungalow, renamed by Sadhu Yadav as '10 Janpath' a la residence of Congress President Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi, only after it was spruced up, implying that the Lalu family was in no mood to comply with the seven-day eviction notice.

"Let the new government send its men to remove my belongings when the December 20 deadline ends. We will cooperate with them," he said. But, the building construction department seems in no mood to extend the deadline.

Lalu had also protested the tone and tenor of the notice.

Alleging it was an act of "political vendetta" by the Nitish Kumar government, the RJD Chief had said "are these words you should use for a former CM who is also a lady? How can she vacate it when renovation of the alloted house is not over?"

Looks like we are going to have some good year end fun with all this tamasha lined up.