Divided attention

Even though they were part of the official entourage of the President, the MPs accompanying Pratibha Patil on her three-nation tour last week clearly had their minds elsewhere. DMK chief Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi had left her child back home and, not surprisingly, she was constantly worrying about the kid even though she kept her date with all the Presidential events. She used her free time at every stopover to buy gifts for her child. On the other hand, BJP MP from Madhya Pradesh Nand Kumar Singh Chouhan was more worried about the results of the by-elections in Betul that neighbours his constituency. Only after the results showed that his party had prevailed there did Chouhan start looking more relaxed.