Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad Yadav is known for his love for cows but now he has fallen in love with peacocks — India’s national birds.

With Yadav said to be hell-bent on watching the national birds dancing before him, the local zoo authorities have left a pair of peacocks in his official bungalow in Patna. The pair — a male and female — have been left to roam freely in his official residence. The winged guests reached his home on Thursday.

RJD is a coalition partner in the ruling Nitish Kumar government in Bihar.

“The pair has moved into the residence on Thursday. It is really a lovely sight to watch the birds roam freely in the areas and spread their colourful feathers under the open sky,” a close aide of the RJD chief said on Friday.

Zoo authorities said the peacocks have been left in Prasad’s residence as part of the policy decision to set free the national birds from cages and allow them to breathe freely, mingling with people

However, this is probably for the first time that the majestic birds have been left in the bungalows of a VVIP.

Recently, the Environment and Forest Department authorities had planned to relocate 100 peacocks in the New Capital Area covering Raj Bhawan (the office of Governor), Chief Minister’s House, Bihar government secretariat and Ecological Park to give the city a new look.

Authorities said the idea would serve twin purposes. Firstly, it will add to the beauty of the state capital and secondly, it will also maintain ecological balance given the fact that peacocks feast on insects. Further, allowing them to roam freely will also help increase their population, they claimed.

So far, Madhopur-Govindpur village, which falls under the east Chamaparan district of Bihar, was known as the ‘village of peacocks’ where the villagers proudly coexisted with the national birds for year. The village is home to some 500 peacocks. Recently, chief minister Nitish Kumar had paid a visit to this village and directed the authorities to take steps to protect peacocks and ensure their safe breeding.

Earlier when the Yadav couple were in power, they had kept more than 100 cows and calves at 1, Anne Marg, official residence of the chief minister. With the couple losing power in the state, the cattle have been moved to the Danapur residence of the RJD president

source : gulfnews