On b’day, Paswan ‘struggles’ to play Maya

At the party which was held at Paswan’s MLA brother’s official residence, the Dalit leader wore two gold crowns, accepted a bag containing Rs 51 lakh in cash and cut a cake weighing 60 pounds.

The huge cake depicted the various portfolios like Railways, Communication, Steel, Fertiliser, Chemicals etc the leader has held at the Centre in a political career spanning over three decades. While one gold crown was gifted to him by the LJP’s legislature party, the second one came from the Dalit Sena. The bag containing Rs 51 lakh in cash was presented by the party.

It was the first time that that the Dalit leader or his partymen celebrated Paswan’s birthday in such a big way in Patna. Though the largesse showered on the occasion seemed little in comparison to what Mayawati doles out in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, this Bihar counterpart appeared to be emulating the latter as politicking warms up in the Hindi heartland.

His supporters, however, chose to compare the birthday bash with that of political rival and Cabinet colleague Lalu Prasad Yadav who recently celebrated his birthday in New Delhi. “Our leader is concerned about Bihar and so he decided to celebrate his 60th birthday in Patna unlike Lalu who did so in New Delhi,” said a party leader.

That Paswan was now focussing on Bihar much ahead of the polls was obvious. Like never in the past, his 60th birthday was advertised well in advance across the state capital. Hoardings with pictures of the leader wearing a golden crown were put up around Patna long before the actual event.

Meanwhile, despite invitations, none of his biggest political rivals could make it to the birthday bash. While Lalu cited an official engagement, Nitish Kumar was ill. Both, however, conveyed their greetings to Paswan in advance.