Somnath hosts UPA dinner for Karat debut

As the NDA sulked for not being coaxed back to Parliament, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee was busy hosting a dinner for his party’s new general secretary, Prakash Karat. The dinner was ostensibly organised on Thursday to introduce the once-low-profile CPI(M) hardliner to the UPA members, especifically the Congress.

Billed as a ‘‘private dinner’’, the Speaker’s office said his friends were invited and it was only incidental that this friends’ list included some ministers in the UPA Cabinet. Most Cabinet Ministers and top bureaucrats turned up but none could claim they knew Karat well. Not even I&B Minister Jaipal Reddy, who had a previous experience of working with the Left. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has hosted a dinner for Karat and his wife, Brinda, which was attended by Sonia Gandhi as well.