Expert opinion

Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has been a regular feature at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. This time, however, he will not be attending. Though the deputy chairman might not have officially given any reason for skipping it, the buzz is he is uncomfortable with the idea of Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath heading the delegation in place of the commerce minister, which is the standard practice. Nath has a long history of disagreements with the Planning Commission — once famously calling its members “armchair” experts.