Bihar Polls: Crowd sways to Nitish beat

SAHEBPUR KAMAL (BEGUSARAI): As the chopper touched the Chamaria school ground this afternoon, the waiting crowd erupted into raptures, raising slogans and frantically waiving to the man who had finally arrived on the scene. For hours, the crowd had kept waiting in the torrid heat, and once they sighted the chopper they could not hide their excitement, many of them could be even seen jumping in ecstasy. And the man of the moment enjoying such an enviable attention was none other than Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar.

“The crowd seemed charged up by the presence of the chief minister. They kept on swaying to his political tunes,” said Praveen Amanullah, the JD (U) nominee in support of whom the Mr Kumar arrived at the sub-divisional town of Balia.

Such was the mood in the crowd that they would not let any leader speak other than their man, chief minister Nitish Kumar. Yes, the crowd allowed the candidate, Ms Amanuallah, to address the rally first, but when JD(U) Rajya Sabha member Anwar Ali tried to hold on to the microphone, he was shouted down by the crowd, forcing him to retreat. “We have come here for Nitishji. We will not allow others to speak,” shouted the boisterous youth from the large assemblage.

Mr Nitish Kumar did speak out of his turn, poking fun at his principal rival, Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav. But, he did not for once referred to the RJD chief by name during his speech. “During their 15 year rule, the wife–husband duo messed up with Bihar and now he says he is a transformed man and will develop Bihar like the railways. But who will believe the man who could not do anything for the state when he was in power,” the JD(U) leader asked. The crowd lapped up everything that Mr Kumar said and kept cheering every time he took a potshot at Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav.