How to win rivals

After scoring political points on the issue of MNS violence against North Indians in Mumbai, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar now seems to be on an overdrive to disarm his arch political rival Lalu Prasad and the RJD. Last week, he shared the dais with both Lalu and Ram Vilas Paswan at a function to mark the revival of the Barauni Refinery in the state. Then, on a recent flight to Patna, Nitish surprised his bitter critic, RJD leader and Cabinet Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh. When Raghuvansh started pointing out the deficiencies in Nitish’s administration, the Bihar CM asked the air hostess for a piece of paper, in which he jotted down the criticism. The paper was then handed over to an accompanying official. The next morning, the newspapers reported that Nitish had ordered immediate action on three of the five points raised by Raghuvansh.