Delhi Confidential: Poll Itch

The election heat was felt on the floor of the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. During the farewell speeches for the retiring members, there was an exchange of words between Congress’s Jairam Ramesh and CPM’s John Brittas. “You have a problem with us … though we made you a minister (referring to the Left’s support to the UPA),” Brittas said, adding the Left backed the Congress in order to keep the BJP out of power. “You will not reciprocate it,” Brittas said, prompting Ramesh to say that the CPM is helping the BJP in Kerala where Congress and Left are in direct fight for the April 9 polls. However, the verbal clash took an amusing turn when Chairman C P Radhakrishan commented: “Everybody knows that you both are complementing each other.”

Homework

A Union minister called more than a dozen officials from his ministry to his residence in Lutyens’ Delhi around 7 pm on Tuesday, it is learnt. The minister wanted to prepare for his speech in Parliament the following day and wanted inputs from the officials. He is also learnt to have asked them to provide the information in a specific format. The officials expected an early return, but it took several hours to compile the desired details and they could walk out only after 10 pm. Many of them learnt to have missed the dinner as only tea was served during the meeting.