Lalu and Nitish battle out popularity in Pak

An unusual popularity battle has ensued between present Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and his arch rival Lalu Prasad Yadav. Ridiculing Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for allegedly seeking publicity after his recent Pakistan visit, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad on Sunday claimed that he was more popular in that country than Kumar. With about 15 percent of state’s electoral roll consisting of the members from the minority community, the two leaders have been seeking an endorsement from across the border. ‘The people and politicians in Pakistan still talk about me and my administrative capabilities,’ he told a public meeting during his ‘Parivartan Yatra’ in Bihar’s Saharsa district. Kumar’s recent visit to Pakistan had invited comparisons with Yadav’s visit, which had drawn a lot of media attention.  ‘My contributions as the railway minister is being effusively talked about in political circles in Pakistan even now,’ he said, referring to Muttahida Qaumi Movement(MQM) MP lawmaker Sajid Ahmed’s statement last month that Pakistani railways be handed over to the former Indian railway minister for the revival of its fortunes.

‘Such visits are routine affairs,’ Prasad said and asked Kumar to concentrate on mitigating the miseries of the minorities in the state. Kumar’s recent Pakistan visit ended on a sombre note as on his return he had to handle crisis arising out of stampede in state capital during the chaath festival.