Talk time

Tuesday evening provided a unique opportunity for Congress leaders to interact with Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. But this time, the interaction was very different on one count: Mukherjee, for a change, allowed others to air their views on the economy. At the end of the meeting, Congress’ media cell head Janardan Dwivedi commented, “Generally Mukherjee speaks and others have no other choice but to listen to him silently. This time he listened to them.” It is possible that with the bulk of the Budget process over, Mukherjee saw no harm in allowing others to share their thoughts. At any rate, Congressmen were happy. As B K Hariprasad, a general secretary, observed, “He patiently allowed us to express our viewpoints. What more could you want from such a meeting?”