The Hindu Business Line : Nitish says Govt is in poll mode

AT his humorous best, the Minister for Railways, Mr Nitish Kumar, today spoofed at his colleagues and admitted that the Government was in an election mode.

The Minister, who was virtually besieged with demands for train stoppages, new stations and railway jobs at a function to dedicate the Dadri Inland Container Depot (ICD) of Concor Ltd, quipped: "Make sure all demands are made and met before February 10."

The Minister of State for Information Technology and Communications, Mr Ashok Pradhan, who is the local Member of Parliament, had a long list of demands for his constituency, Khurja, where Dadri is located.

In an apparent reference to the `model code of conduct' to be implemented after elections are announced, Mr Kumar told the Northern Railway General Manager, Mr R.R. Jaruhar, to set up a new passenger reservation centre at Khurja and get it inaugurated by Mr Pradhan himself.

"After all, he (Mr Pradhan) has to face his constituency. Even I have to ask him for favours to ensure that phones in my constituency are working fine. Please make sure that the demand is met soon, before all of us go to the electorate for `renewal' of our jobs," Mr Kumar said.

Not to be cowed down by a series of demands, the Minister said that the infinite favours sought from the Railways are best summed up by a saying in Hindi. "Hari anant, Hari katha anant (God is infinite, so is his saga)," he said.

As the Minister continued, one of the local chieftains got emboldened enough to climb on to the dais and hand him a paper, apparently a list of more demands.

"What is this, I have not finished yet," Mr Kumar said. And then, as the bewildered gentleman almost jumped off the stage, he added: "Oh, today is Basant Panchmi, and from today, throwing `abeer' (colour) on others is allowed."

Basant Panchmi heralds the arrival of spring in North India and marks the beginning of the festive season that culminates in the Holi festival in March.