Sketchy focus

While Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee read out his long Budget speech, his political colleague from West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, passed the time in the front benches sketching and doodling. Her artistic skills found an admirer in the Congress benches in Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh. A curious Ramesh frequently asked Banerjee about the sketches. Ramesh also drew Banerjee’s attention when Mukherjee mentioned anything related to West Bengal. Whenever Ramesh said “Bengal” she promptly replied “constituency,” indicating that Mukherjee was trying to help his own Jangipur constituency through those announcements.