The lunch happened five years ago but an unpaid bill left a bad taste in the mouth — of PM A.B. Vajpayee’s entourage that downed the meal and the restaurateur who was left high and dry.Today, nobody wanted it mentioned that the BJP paid up Rs 1.36 lakh and put an end to the matter, much like Rajiv Pratap Rudy did recently. ‘‘It’s best not to talk about it,’’ said Anil Kumar, Green Valley restaurant owner.The Congress didn’t let the matter slip though. ‘‘Pay for what you eat.khaya piya aur paise dakaar gaye (They ate, drank and burped the bill),’’ Congress protesters chanted today. Kumar, who had been plying his cause with even the district administration, would not disclose the amount the BJP paid up.The entourage that Kumar fed in September, 1999, was 450-strong. He was told the BJP would pay the bill but later, the district administration agreed to pick the tabs. None did.‘‘If a feast is held in the dak bungalow for party workers, how is the district administration responsible,’’ said DM Surendra Verma.
