Paswan eats humble pie

Union Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan may have thought that the Left would appreciate his initiatives to check inflation when he invited them for a lunch at his residence last week. He wanted to “seek the opinion” of the Left on further initiatives to curb price rise. To his dismay, the Left leaders declined his invitation. CPI leader A B Bardhan apparently said that price rise was not an issue to be discussed over the dining table. Paswan had to pacify himself by somehow arranging a meeting with the more approachable CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury in Parliament.