Nitish comes across namesake, laughs heartily

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had a hearty laugh on Monday when a person who attended his public interaction programme turned out to be his namesake.

The septuagenarian leader was briskly dispensing with complaints of citizens, sometimes referring them to a senior official. On some occasions, he was himself making calls.

When the turn of a young man from Madhubani named Nitish Kumar Mandal came, he cast a glance at his papers and burst into laughter.

”You have adopted my name?” the CM laughed out aloud and recalled that in his early days he hardly found anyone with the same moniker. ”But now it is different. The name seems to have become quite popular,” he said.

The petitioner had come with a complaint about bureaucratic harassments he faced in getting a ration card and Kumar asked his staff to dial up the officer concerned in the food and civil supplies department.

Over the phone, he was heard saying ”Listen, a boy has come from Madhubani. He has my name Nitish Kumar, albeit with the suffix Mandal. He has some ration card issues. Please look into it”.

The man was seen leaving with a smile on his face and Kumar directed his attention to the next complainant.

Kumar was holding court as part of ‘Janata Ke Durbaar Mein Mukhyamantri’, which is held on the first three Mondays of every month.

The opposition BJP, which has been desperately trying to call the septuagenarian’s mental soundness to question, came out with its own interpretation.

”The CM claims he was the first person having the name Nitish Kumar. There is something wrong. Either his daydreams of prime ministership have put him under psychological pressure or, he is unsettled by the political pressure from RJD which wants him to give up his chair,” Nikhil Anand, a state BJP spokesman, tweeted.