Ranchi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers took a leaf out of hit film Lage Raho Munnabhai to register their protest against Railway Minister Lalu Prasad being made the chief guest at Jharkhand's sixth anniversary celebrations in Ranchi on Wednesday.
Clad in white kurtas and holding a lotus - the party's election symbol - in hand, 101 BJP workers formed a chain at the Albert Ekka chowk and paid a floral tribute before a portrait of Lalu Prasad kept there.
The gesture was inspired by the peaceful protest portrayed in the Bollywood blockbuster that termed it as Gandhigiri.
They were irked by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government's move to have Lalu Prasad as the chief guest as he had initially opposed the idea of bifurcating Bihar, ruled by his Rashtriya Janata Dal, (RJD) and carve out a new state of Jharkhand.
"Lalu does not feel ashamed to become chief guest of the state's anniversary celebrations," said Ranchi legislator C P Singh of the BJP.
Many residents too were unhappy with the government move.
"We feel ashamed that Lalu was given the status of the chief guest. He ensured 'jungle raj' in Bihar and people threw him out of the state in the assembly elections," said Sailen Sen.
The anniversary celebrations began in the morning with a marathon run while many cultural programmes were organised in the state and a week-long trade fair held.
However, citizens are mostly keeping away from the bash.
"Nothing has been done for the development of the state - neither by the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) which ruled for almost six years nor by the present government," Shobha Kumar, an entrepreneur.
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