Old habits die hard, but some old habits hardly die. An MLA of Bihar’s ruling JD(U) has shocked public and political sensibilities by repeating his indulgence in vulgarly dancing with bargirls two years after chief minister Nitish Kumar had reprimanded him for a similar act.

MLA Shyam Bahadur Singh, who represents Barharia constituency in Siwan district where India’s first President Rajendra Prasad was born, brought shame on the JD(U)-BJP government by uninhibitedly dancing in an apparently drunken condition with a bunch of bar girls at a wedding ceremony on Wednesday night. Footage of Singh’s elaborate and unseemly revelry was aired on local TV news channels on Friday and sparked outrage.
Currency notes were showered by cheering crowds on to the stage as Singh frolicked away in tune with the suggestive gyrations of the bargirls’ busts and hips amid loud, rustic music. The wedding ceremony took place at a brick kiln owner’s house in Gopalganj district. Before his present term as MLA, Singh represented Jiradei constituency in Siwan district, where Rajendra Prasad was born.
“Such incidents show how the era of sacrifice and service by political leaders has long been dead. Such acts must stop,” said Gandhian intellectual Razi.