When Nitish and Lalu personally delivered press releases! – News Riveting

A file picture of Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar Law Kumar Mishra This is a story about the relationships between Chief Ministers in different Indian states and the media, with a particular focus on Bihar’s two dominant socialist leaders over the past thirty years — Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav. Lalu, during his early political days, would ride his Vespa scooter to Pradeep Dainik on Buddha Marg, The Searchlight, Aryavarta, and The Indian Nation on Fraser Road. He would personally hand over handwritten press releases to editors, always with a humble request. He also made it a point to visit PTI and UNI, and never missed All India Radio, where he would ensure his news made it to Arun Kumar Verma, the editor. He believed people in Chapra tuned in to the evening news, so it had to be there. He maintained this practice even as a Member of Parliament — and continued, as Chief Minister, to visit offices along with the Director of Public Relations. If a reporter wrote anything even mildly critical about him, he would call the owner and have the journalist fired. A particular reporter from a national English daily was a favorite of his.
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