India Uncut

Remember the horse-trading that the dissolution of the Bihar assembly was supposed to prevent. Well, Ashok Malik of the Indian Express describes how some of it was taking place. He writes:

It’s a pity some of the best stories never made it to prime time. The BJP-JD(U) had a plane ready in Delhi, to fly allied MLAs to Panchmarhi, Madhya Pradesh. More bizarre was the case of three LJP MLAs whom Ram Vilas Paswan spirited away to Delhi. They were sequestered in Hotel Janpath.

Eventually, the politico husband of one the MLAs arrived in Delhi to "rescue" his wife. The plot was hatched. The couple would stay the night at the hotel, and leave early for a morning walk, while the "guards" in the lobby were snoozing. The NDA car would be waiting outside.

At 5.30 am, a set of cars went whizzing up and down Janpath, waiting for their quarry. Ms MLA and Spouse never showed up — they had overslept, too dead to the world to even answer frantic calls! It was a wasted effort — much as the election that has now been erased from Bihar’s history.

There's a great comic novel waiting to be written on Indian politics, so if one of you is so inclined, roll with it. Much material there. And do read Malik's full piece.

Also, for those who think I specialise in cows, you can read some previous posts on horses here and here.