PM, Sonia Gandhi to Visit Bihar on Thursday

Patna: Aug. 26, 2008

If Bihar is fighting for its very survival under immense flooding situation as it does each year during the brutal monsoon season, it is also the time for nation's esteemed leaders to go on their annual, almost ritualistic, sightseeing trip to Bihar as VIPs from New Delhi geared up to conduct their aerial survey of the flood-hit areas in Bihar in the next coming days.

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday announced his victory in persuading Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, and Home Minister Shivraj Patil to visit Bihar to feel the pulse of the state.

The trio are expected to visit the state on Thursday. Among the local hosts who would act as 'tour guides' are Yadav himself, his wife and former Chief Minister of Bihar Rabri Devi, Union Water Resources Minister Jai Prakash Narayan Yadav, and former Bihar minister Shyam Rajak.

The Railway Minister also took credit for convincing the Prime Minister of dispatching four large helicopters to Bihar to engage in relief operation and persuading Central Minister Sharad Pawar to send 1 lakh ton of wheat and rice to the flood-hit areas.

Union Steel Minister and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) president Ram Vilas Paswan also announced his decision to conduct an aerial survey of North Bihar on Wednesday.

"We do not believe in doing politics when it comes to helping the people of Bihar," Paswan's brother and party state president Pashupati Kumar Paras said adding the Union Minister would begin his survey in an army aircraft and leave for Delhi the same day.