Festival ruse

On a crusade to acquaint parliamentarians with his ministry8217;s programmes, Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh has been holding statewise meetings of MPs during Parliament sessions. He planned one for members from Tamil Nadu and Kerala last Wednesday. To his horror, only two MPs turned up when over 60 had been invited. He was told the low attendance was due to Onam. Singh ruefully blamed his 8220;Bihari mindset8221; in not foreseeing the date would clash with the popular South Indian festival. It only dawned on him later that Onam had been celebrated two days before the meeting and the MPs had simply absented themselves from the crash course. Perhaps the minister will now keep a close eye on the almanac.