Mamata Banerjee likely to meet Rahul Gandhi, opposition leaders in Delhi

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will be in New Delhi over the next few days. Already there is much speculation about the possibility of a meeting with Congress president Rahul Gandhi, especially after Trinamool Congress emphasised last week that its leader was more qualified to be the united Opposition’s prime ministerial candidate than Gandhi. Trinamool leaders are hopeful the two might “bump” into each other in the Central Hall of Parliament on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Banerjee will speak at a Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India organised event titled “Love Your Neighbour”. Banerjee will also meet Ram Jethmalani, Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha.

Dressed to debate

With the Rajya Sabha not transacting any business on Monday, and the legislative agenda in the Lok Sabha lean, many Members of Parliament headed to the Central Hall and busied themselves in discussing who among them was the best dressed. All agreed that United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Nationalist Congress Party’s Supriya Sule were two of the best dressed women Parliamentarians. Among male members, Union minister Rajyavardhan Rathore was thought to be the best dressed. Trinamool Congress’ Dinesh Trivedi, Anurag Thakur of the BJP also found honourable mentions.

One of them

Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu was in Chennai on Sunday to attend an academic event. He also visited ailing Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M Karunanidhi at a city hospital. Naidu, who hails from Andhra Pradesh, is a frequent visitor to Chennai, which led at least one senior politician to comment that the Vice-President knows more people in Tamil Nadu than in Andhra Pradesh. Earlier this month, during a discussion in the Rajya Sabha, Communist Party of India (Marxist) member T K Rangarajan, who hails from Tamil Nadu, said Naidu was “one of us”. He said that a large number of people, including himself, go to meet Naidu during his morning walks at a city park.