Patna, Nov 04:With two of his daughters married to software professionals, RJD president Laloo Prasad Yadav seems to have resolved to get over his anti-IT image. On Monday, the state government took the first concrete step towards fulfilling its promise of gifting a laptop to each of its 318 legislators when representatives of a computer major made a presentation of their laptop on the state assembly`s premises.

The company is offering "election-friendly" software exclusively to Bihar legislators. They were told that the special software would help them map their constituencies according to their election strategies.

The software will have constituency-wise information on voters` profile, caste configuration, previous trends and other necessary details to give them an edge over rivals. The worth of the laptop deal: Rs 6 crore.

A company executive told the Hindustan Times that they had offered a complete package to the Bihar government, including in-depth, constituency-wise information and training programme for legislators. "Our company has not taken a final decision on the price but each unit will cost around Rs 1.25 lakh," he added.

Though the Rabri Devi government wants to buy computers with portable printers through a global tender, only one company has been invited for a presentation yet.

The government wants all legislators to have laptops before the start of the winter session of the state legislature on December 12.

Assembly Speaker Sadanand Singh, chief secretary K.A.H. Subramanian and assembly secretary J.P. Pal are the members of the screening panel which will finalise the deal.

The government had promised to dole out the freebies during the budget session of the legislature in February-March.

It had sanctioned Rs 1.59 crore for the installation of PCs at the residences of legislators. Though it had invited tenders, the proposal subsequently got stuck in Bihar`s proverbial red tape.

But this time, there may be no stopping the computer revolution from reaching the state`s politicians.