A last supper

There may have been quite a few faces missing in the Congress ranks when the interim budget was presented in Parliament...

NEW DELHI: There may have been quite a few faces missing in the Congress ranks when the interim budget was presented in Parliament on Monday,but the absentees at this very moment are likely to be hastily making their way to the Capital. UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi is hosting a dinner of all Congress MPs on Tuesday,and while a routine feature coinciding with House sessions,this one holds significance as probably being the last such supper before polls. With MPs meeting senior Congress functionaries over dinner under the benign eye of the high command,talk is expected to veer around to nominations. You can be certain of a full house.

Kusum vs Kalyan

LUCKNOW: Rubbing salt in Kalyan Singhs wounds,the BJP has decided to pit his protege Kusum Rai against him in his areas of influence in western and central UP featuring about 20 Lok Sabha seats. The blow will hurt as Rai once was Kalyans closest aide and,in a sense,responsible for his eventual falling out with the BJP. However,thats precisely what appeals to the BJP,with a senior leader saying: She is well versed with his style. Her campaigning will certainly make a difference for us. Rai isnt afraid of a fight either,insisting I will campaign wherever I am told. I have always been loyal to the party.

MNS engineering

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Navanirman Sena isnt just about unemployed youths. Raj Thackeray on Monday inaugurated a party wing consisting of engineers and architects that would keep an eye specifically on infrastructure projects,particularly the corruption therein.

An elder,wiser Antulay

NEW DELHI: Minority Affairs Minister A R Antulay has broken his long silence since he stirred a controversy with his remarks on the killing of ATS chief Hemant Karkare,to say that at 80,he was too old for the Lok Sabha elections,but would be willing to take a Rajya Sabha nomination if Sonaiji deems fit. I think its the right time for me to call it a day, the Maharashtra leader told PTI. He denied it had anything to do with the Karkare row: Controversies do not deter me from my principled stands. They make me more rigorous in sticking to my guns.

Poll-weather partners

GANGTOK: Ever thought of the Congress and BJP in the same alliance? It has come true in Sikkim. On Monday,the two,along with other opposition parties,announced a United Democratic Front to take on the Sikkim Democratic Front in the Assembly elections later this year.