At UPA’s fourth (and last) dinner, Amar Singh is at high table

It was clear that the Congress had fielded the Prime Minister to engage Amar Singh. A seat was reserved for him on the PM’s table while the CPM power couple Prakash and Brinda Karat, the RJD’s Lalu Prasad Yadav, NCP head Sharad Pawar and the DMK’s T R Baalu sat on Sonia’s table.

Cold-shouldered at the first UPA anniversary function to not being invited last year and now sharing the same table with the PM, Amar Singh too had his little plan. He reached a good 40 minutes late, by which time the PM was on to his dessert. The Samajwadi Party leader arrived and first headed for another table, apparently not realising he was supposed to sit next to the PM.

On being informed that Amar Singh had arrived, the PM went to his table. Flanked by the CPM’s Sitaram Yechury and the PM, Amar Singh said: “I hold Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in high esteem. I regard him a lot and have great respect for him. And this is not recent, but from a long time.”

The opening line was forceful, and an amused PM replied: “The respect is mutual.”

Moving on, Manmohan Singh said: “In politics, there are no permanent foes. On national issues and problems, there should be a serious attempt to forge a national consensus among like-minded political parties.”

It was almost a script, as Amar Singh, when asked about the nuclear deal, repeated his recent accommodative line. “We have a stated position on the nuclear deal, which we have said in Parliament. However, if the Government starts a dialogue with us and brings some new facts before us, we are willing to consider. And why only the nuclear deal, there should be a consensus on other issues like the Women’s Reservation Bill.”

This time the PM, too, had a reply: “I will be happy to take advantage of that statement.”

In IPL season, cricket provided a metaphor too. Amid talk of Congress and SP being two teams in a cricket match, Yechury quipped that the match has been washed away to which Amar Singh has his reply ready. “But the match referee is here,” he said, pointing to both Yechury and the PM.

Despite all this, there was an air of caution in the Congress camp. Sonia, for one, was reticent and stuck to being with the primary UPA allies, spending most of her time with Lalu and the Karats.

Rahul Gandhi too stayed away, preferring to spend time with fellow Congress leaders, asking questions on the Karnataka poll from AICC general secretary in-charge Prithviraj Chavan, having dinner alongside External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and fielding a few questions from the media on why he chose to visit tribal areas. “Because they can’t come to you, so you have to go to them,” he said.

As for Amar Singh, it was 20 minutes of being in the spotlight, until the PM excused himself. A few moments later he was seen approaching Home Minister Shivraj Patil and narrating to him how UP Chief Minister Mayawati was allegedly harassing him and other SP MPs like Jaya Prada. He told Patil about how the UP police apparently went to his Kolkata house, saying they were from the Intelligence Bureau.

The point, of course, was about increasing his security status. Patil assured him that there would be positive consideration.