Deal-ing the right card

Two high-profile ministers of the UPA Government 8211; Commerce Minister Kamal Nath and Law Minister H R Bhardwaj 8212; came in for flak at an orientation workshop of Congress spokespersons from across the country organised here last week. Unprovoked, a delegate from Gujarat got up to allege that whenever the Commerce Minister came to the state, he did not deny hospitality of some industrial houses close to Chief Minister Narendra Modi. The Law Minister came in for flak for reportedly appointing people with Sangh Parivar background in Gujarat. Neither Kamal Nath nor Bhardwaj was present to defend themselves, nor did anybody present volunteer to do that. At the workshop, AICC secretary Tom Vadakkan was said to have proposed that the Indo-US civil nuclear deal should always be called an agreement as the word 8216;deal8217; had a negative connotation about it. Other speakers, including National Security Advisor M K Narayanan and Prime Minister8217;s special envoy on the deal Shyam Saran, supported the idea stating that it should always be called the Indo-US Agreement.