Missing the point

The other day, Congress spokesman Satyavrat Chaturvedi was found listening to tapes of the press conference he addressed last week. A visibly upset Chaturvedi played the tapes again and again but refused to say a word. What he was doing became apparent only after a telephone call from AICC General Secretary and Media Cell Chairman Janardan Dwivedi. A hapless Chaturvedi kept pleading he had not mentioned the names of any presidential candidates that were reported to have cropped up during discussions between External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and NCP chief Sharad Pawar. He kept referring to the press conference tapes in support of his innocence, but Dwivedi would hear none of it. The spokesman should know better8212;it8217;s the classic case of being more loyal than the queen.