The leader of a political party commands respect by virtue of her position but when she is someone like Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress or Jayalalithaa of the AIADMK, her followers tend to carry respectful displays to great lengths. At the recent National Development Council (NDC) meeting, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Cabinet colleague, Trinamool Congress MP and Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi were seated on the main dais.
Mamata Banerjee had to sit in the back rows along with other chief ministers. Seeing this, Trivedi promptly called the organisers and asked to be moved to the back rows. Apparently, Trivedi did not want to be seen sitting with the political powers in Delhi when his party leader was seated below him.
