New defaulter

Congress spokesperson P C Chacko, one might say, has all the trappings of an astute politician. But, speaking to the media last week in his home state of Kerala, he put the party in a spot when he said, “The Congress would be taking a decision on whether Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson P J Kurien should continue in his constitutional post before the Budget session... in the wake of the revelations in the Suryanelli gang rape case.” Next day, in Delhi, the party went onto to disown his remarks as “personal”. An unabashed Chacko, when he met reporters soon after that, without taking recourse to the customary excuses of being quoted “out of context” or “misreported”, simply said, “Those were my views but as party spokesperson, I stand by the party’s views.”