New Delhi/Patna: Bihar may have seen a change of guard, but the flavour of politics in the state remains the same.
The wheels of state bureaucracy are still greased with sycophancy.
Bihar's newly-appointed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has has spent just about a couple of weeks in office and verses are already being written in his praise.
Though Nitish was prompt to drop the chapter on his predecessor Lalu Prasad from the school textbooks and is also making a conscious effort to end the tradition of flattery, verses being written in his honour are already out in the market.
The verses have been titled Nitish Chalisa, on the lines of religious text written in the honour of Lord Hanuman.
"Awi shaanti mite saab peera, agar jo chahe Nitish balbire (If Nitish, the all-powerful wants, everyone will be rid of their pains and peace shall prevail)," PS Dayal, the writer of Nitish Chalisa chants.
"The public knows that the administration can be made upright if the ruler wants," Dayal says.
Dayal draws his inspiration from similar deeds of the past. During the Lalu regime, one of his ardent followers had penned what he called Lalu Charit Manas projecting him as an incarnation of Lord Krishna.
But Nitish seems to have taken lessons from Lalu's regime and claims he is trying to keep sycophants at bay.
"I will request all my well wishers not to indulge in activities that cause me embarrassment. I don?t want any such flattery," Nitish said.
After 15 years of sycophancy, it will be interesting to note how Nitish outmaneuvers the popular culture of Bihar politics.
(with inputs from Prabhakar Kumar)
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