A didi,and the dada

It is not for nothing that Pranab Mukherjee is known as the UPAs main troubleshooter. Two weeks ago,when Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee almost walked out of a Cabinet meeting over land rehabilitation and resettlement policy,it required Mukherjee to bring her back. In fact,Mamata had left her seat and started to walk out of the Cabinet room. When she reached behind the Prime Ministers seat,ignoring the requests of Cabinet colleagues,Manmohan Singh looked appealingly at Mukherjee to defuse this latest crisis. And true to his skills,Mukherjee succeeded. He walked up to Mamata and physically pulled her back to her seat. Mamata had once staged a similar walkout during the NDA government,and then it was left to Farooq Abdullah to urge her to return because the media was waiting outside. She refused to go back though,finally agreeing to sit outside the meeting room,with Farooq compelled to give her company for some 40 minutes.