PATNA: Even as JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav basks in adulation for his unabashed bashing of the Anna Hazare campaign, his tough rhetoric against the anti-graft campaigner and his colleagues may cause discomfiture to his colleague, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar.
Although Kumar is also a staunch believer in parliamentary supremacy, something that Yadav invoked in his speech, the chief minister seems to be wary of the risk of being perceived to be opposed to the anti-corruption upsurge. That his chief opponent Lalu Prasad seconded Yadav's observations in the widely watched debate in Parliament has only added to the unease of the Bihar CM who is helped by memories of alleged corruption under RJD rule.
In fact, Kumar, who has made eradication of corruption one of the key planks, had a detailed discussion with Hazare and members of his team only last month. He even invited them to help his officials draft a new Lokayukta campaign for Bihar. Justice Santosh Hegde has already taken up the assignment. Early on, Kumar was the first chief minister who refused to respond to government's belated effort to reach out to state governments and political parties on the issue of Hazare's push for a strong Lokpal, thus putting a spoke in the heels of government's effort to rally the political class against the civil society activists.
Given this and the CM's attempt to reinforce the perception that his regime marks a clear break from RJD rule, some leaders in JD(U) say it was awkward to see the party president and Lalu taking almost the same line not on anti-corruption activism but also its coverage in media.
Bihar recently became the first where properties of corrupt government servants would be confiscated and where CM, ministers and officials furnish details of their assets. It has also enforced the Right to Public Services Act.
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