Home Minister Shivraj Patil was a silent spectator at another Cabinet meeting where Lalu took the accolades. It was the Railway Minister who made a forceful case for putting state DGPs in the apex payscale grade of Rs 80,000 at the meeting that gave its approval to the Sixth Pay Commission report last week. Lalu argued that he knew the situation in the states better than anyone else in the Cabinet and therefore backed the case of DGPs. It is said that a former CBI officer now posted in Delhi who is close to Lalu did the lobbying. Lalu’s onslaught prevailed over objections raised by Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Defence Minister A K Antony, while Patil’s lips were sealed. Lalu is now flooded with calls from IPS officers thanking him.