Magnifying the vanishing act

Responding to a Lok Sabha query on "vanishing companies", Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot's written reply was interesting for the way he chose to present the information. An annexed table provided a state-wise list in alphabetical order - with the exception of Gujarat, which was placed on the top of the list irrespective of the alphabetical sequence. Maybe that was to highlight the fact that the state accounted for the highest number of vanishing companies (26 out of 87) or maybe someone clearly wanted to emphasise the menace in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled state whose chief minister is the party's prime ministerial candidate on the back of his state's popularity as a corporate investment destination.