EXCLUSIVE | When Ministers Travelled Abroad: Anecdotes From Lalu, Paswan and Raman Singh’s London Visits

In the years before 2014, when ministerial trips abroad drew less public scrutiny, foreign visits by senior political leaders often carried their own set of small indulgences. A set of anecdotes from London captures that unmistakable blend of authority, access and personal whim that travelled with them.

Lalu Prasad’s London Visit — and a Young Tejashwi’s Choice

On a visit to London as Railway Minister, Lalu Prasad Yadav arrived with a team of senior railway officials and his young son, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav. At a meeting in the High Commission, he suggested that an Indian Railways officer be posted in London, as had apparently been done in earlier decades.

High Commissioner Kamlesh Sharma is learnt to have declined the proposal, pointing out that India’s rail system had changed — with tracks sourced domestically and from private players — and the old arrangement had long outlived its purpose.

After the meeting, Lalu asked officials to take Tejashwi to Lord’s. The request was promptly met. But once there, the boy was far more taken by the giant wheel. Tejashwi spent the afternoon on repeated rides, a diversion that upstaged the ministerial schedule around him.

Paswan’s Culinary Routine — Chinese Food Across London

Another account centres on Ram Vilas Paswan’s visit as Steel Minister. Travelling with his family, ministry officials and heads of public-sector steel plants, he checked into what officers recall as one of the priciest hotels chosen by an Indian minister at the time.

Dinner each evening followed a single rule: the cuisine had to be Chinese, his wife’s preference. Even at an event hosted by industrialist Lakshmi Mittal, the menu was tweaked accordingly. At a High Commission dinner where no Chinese food had been planned, staff scrambled to source it from a nearby restaurant before the minister arrived.

One night, Paswan mentioned he wanted papaya and guava. These too were produced without delay. Before returning home, he purchased a high-end wristwatch for a younger brother who had called in the request. By the time he boarded the flight to India, Paswan was travelling with thirteen large suitcases.

Raman Singh and the ‘Wax Statue’ at Madame Tussauds

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh’s London tour, undertaken with his wife and accompanied by the Chief Secretary and his spouse, produced its own unexpected moment.

At Madame Tussauds, as the group moved past the museum’s lifelike figures, the Chief Secretary’s wife pointed out what she thought was a wax likeness of a senior IAS officer from their cadre.

Raman Singh stepped closer, folded his hands and greeted him:

“Good morning, sir.”

The “statue” responded.

It was the officer himself — on leave that had been sanctioned for a visit to his village, but spent abroad instead.

Once the delegation returned to Raipur, the General Administration Department sought a formal explanation.