India News | Sushil Modi, Tej Pratap Reach out to Boy Who Made News for Seeking Help from Nitish

Patna, May 17 (PTI) The 11 years old Bihar boy who had recently hit the headlines by drawing Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's attention to the challenges he was facing in getting good education, on Tuesday received an offer of help from senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi.

Modi, who is a member of the Rajya Sabha, met Sonu Kumar at Harnaut in Nalanda district where he pledged support for the boy's education till he completed school.

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Sharing details of his meeting with the boy on Twitter, Modi, who was the deputy CM till 2020 with key portfolios such as finance, promised that Sonu will be admitted to a Navodaya Vidyalaya and he will personally help him with Rs 2,000 every month till matric.

Sonu had hogged the limelight on Saturday when Kumar was in Kalyan Bigha, his ancestral village which is in the Harnaut block.

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With folded hands, the boy, who lives in an adjoining village, had called out to the chief minister with the cry "please help me with my education. My father is not supporting me".

Officials were instructed by the CM to look into the boy's grievances while Sonu impressed journalists with his eloquence when he described the pathetic teaching standards at his school and also that his father squandered his earnings on liquor in a toddy, notwithstanding the stringent liquor law which has been in place in the state for six years.

RJD president Lalu Prasad's elder son Tej Pratap Yadav also spoke to the boy over the phone and the video clip of their conversation went viral on social media.

Tej Pratap, who is often in news for the wrong reasons, can be seen travelling by car while speaking to Sonu with the phone in loudspeaker mode.

The maverick RJD leader can be heard lauding the "bold and smart" child and promising him to get admitted to a good school in Patna.

Tej Pratap also enquired whether the boy wanted to become a doctor or an engineer, and was bemused when Sonu said he dreamt of becoming an IAS officer.

"Become an IAS officer once you attain the eligible age. If we are in power in Bihar at that time, I shall have you under my wing," was the response of Tej Pratap who burst out laughing when he heard the reply of the boy.

"Sir, I shall be happy to work with you. But I do not believe in being under anybody," said Sonu, with an endearing swagger.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)