Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who has often censured arch-rival Lalu Prasad Yadav’s indulgence in supposedly “superstitious practices”, left many surprised when he himself embraced the 11.11.11 craze and ordered the prosecution of 11 allegedly errant officials at 11:11 am on that date.
Mr Kumar not only signed the file for prosecuting the 11 officials but also gave a rare glimpse into his fascination with fancy dates in the calendar. He said he had taken important decisions in his chequered political career on all “historic dates” since 2001, such as 1-1-2001, 2-2-2002, 3-3-2003, 6-6-2006, 7-7-2007, 8-8-2008, 9-9-2009 and 10-10-2010.
“There was a gap in 2004 due to the Lok Sabha polls and another gap in 2005 as I had no weapon for signature till then (5-5-2005). Apart from these two years, I have followed such dates...” said Mr Kumar. “These dates would reappear after 1,000 years,” he told journalists, adding that 3-3-2003 and 1-1-2011 had been “very good” for him.
Just as Mr Kumar signed on the file, Tirhut range commissioner S.N. Raju planted a banyan sapling in the campus of Bettiah’s Maharaja Stadium at 11:11 am. Mr Kumar said the tree growing from that sapling was expected to survive “for 400 to 500 years”.