PM's dinner in the seating soup

At the prime minister’s dinner for UPA MPs, Congress managers had a tough time making seating arrangements. DMK leader T R Balu came with Kanimozhi, but sought a separate place to sit to show his deference to Karunanidhi’s daughter. While Kanimozhi was given a seat at the PM’s table, Balu managed to sit at Sonia Gandhi’s. RJD leader Lalu Prasad didn’t arrive so his seat at Gandhi’s table was given to Home Minister P Chidambaram, who was otherwise allotted a place away from the limelight.

SP was represented by Amar Singh and Mulayam Singh Yadav, both choosing to sit with the PM. Ten minutes before the dinner was over, Prasad arrived and Chidambaram had to vacate his seat. Most of the MPs were inquisitive about the Telangana issue but both PM and Gandhi didn’t speak on it at all.