Raj Bhawan146;s 145;immovable property146;

Attribute it to a perverted sense of humour, but the staff at the Patna Raj Bhawan call the second floor of the sprawling building the 145...

Attribute it to a perverted sense of humour, but the staff at the Patna Raj Bhawan call the second floor of the sprawling building the 8216;Food and Fun8217; floor, a repository of all kinds of cuisine and recreation. As it happens, Residents No. 1 of the building is a rare visitor to the floor 8212; they are almost always too old for either food or fun, says the local wag.

The more unkind among the staff include present incumbent V C Pandey among the 8216;8216;immovable property8217;8217; of the Bhawan. He is reluctant to receive visitors, hardly ever meets the media, rarely leaves Patna and largely unbothered about unfolding events.

For this bachelor career bureaucrat, the Raj Bhawan is little better than a retirement home. The recluse governor has three major passions, and only one begins with 8216;W8217;: if books and astrology occupy his waking hours, sundown reportedly sees the governor lifting his spirits artificially.

A 1955 IAS officer, Pandey moved up the ladder to become Rajasthan Chief Secretary and later, cabinet secretary in 1990. He was considered close to then prime minister V P Singh. Related to Union minister Murli Manohar Joshi and Cabinet Secretary Kamal Pande, his access to power did not end with retirement or V P Singh8217;s political eclipse. In 2000, when the BJP-led Central government appointed Pande as governor of Bihar, the RJD cried foul, fearing he would interfere with the state government8217;s functioning. To be fair, Pandey has not interfered with anything. In fact, his secretary Mithilesh Kumar 8212; Union minister C P Thakur8217;s brother-in-law 8212; is said to double up as ghost-governor while the real McCoy reads books and palms.

Though he knows six languages, Pande doesn8217;t talk much in public, except on unavoidable occasions like Republic Day. Astrology is said to be the only subject that gets him going; Pandey claims to be an authority, and has reportedly impressed many politicians with his predictions.

There8217;s one question his staff have, though, when anybody seeks to invite the governor for a function: Will he need to climb stairs? On such fundamental issues does the constitutional head of Bihar state operate.