No 'hand'shake for President

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s political aide Ahmed Patel termed President Pranab Mukherjee’s address to the joint session of two houses of Parliament as disappointing. Till now, Congress leaders have been guarded about commenting on speeches by the President, who was the party’s top troubleshooter at one point. Patel, who worked closely with Mukherjee when he was a senior minister in the previous United Progressive Alliance regime, tweeted: “The President’s address is disappointing and doesn’t address any real challenges. It is merely a collection of the government’s failed promises.” Stating that the President’s address was silent on demonetisation, Ahmed added: “Did the President’s address mention anything about data on demonetisation, failure to create new jobs, rail safety?”.