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Rabri writes her own script
By K. Balchand
PATNA, FEB. 3. Did the Bihar Chief Minister, Rabri Devi, steal the show at a function organised by the Railways here. At least the Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee, who was present seemed to acknowledge her growing presence.
Once she set her written script aside, Rabri Devi was a different sight altogether. She was unstoppable and took the battle into the rival camp, more than making up for the absence of her husband, the RJD president, Laloo Prasad Yadav, who is away in Maharashtra.
The speech brought the people to their feet, as it were, and Mr. Vajpayee gestured to his colleagues about her prowess as she pumped the air with a clenched fist. That too with a smile. Mr. Vajpayee responded to her statements, denying that the Centre discriminated among States and that it meted out a ``step-motherly treatment'' to Bihar. He would give special care to Bihar's demands.
However, he expected a proper use of Central funds. The Centre would give the State a special package as promised and that the railway projects completed and launched today were part of it. But he did not agree with the demand for granting a special category status to Bihar, though he said the Centre would consider specific demands.
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