Tongues wag as Amit Shah seats Prem Kumar by his side

PATNA: Amit Shah sprung a surprise at his first press conference in Patna on Monday by having six-time party MLA and former minister Prem Kumar seated on his side. Others on the dais with Shah were Union minister and party's Bihar election in charge Ananth Kumar, BJP chief Mangal Pandey and former state chief Gopal Narain Singh. In response to a question on whether there was any significance to Kumar's presence on stage, Shah said: “It is up to you to decide.“

Prem, who belongs to an EBC (extremely backward class) caste, hit headlines recently when BJP national president Shahnawaz Hussain appealed to people to vote for him, saying, “If you elect him, he will bring glory to Gaya.“

Many interpreted Hussain's state ment as a hint that he (Prem) could be the CM if the BJP comes to power in the state.

The speculative list of the party's CM candidates keeps shrinking or expanding, de pending on the frequency with which one gets close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, waves to crowds with him, or manages to exchange a few words with him -all on the stage erected for his election rallies. The stage meant for the Prime Minister, of course, is packed with NDA leaders and Union ministers.