No bang theory

Media circles were abuzz over the weekend with talk of a possible announcement of major populist polices ahead of October 2 to leaven the so-called anti-people impact of rising fuel prices and foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail. Asked about it, a senior South Block official cynically pointed out that if such announcements were in the works, they would have been made on October 1 to detract from Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s noisy protest rally in the capital. Gandhi’s birth anniversary, when most of India was enjoying a long weekend, was hardly an opportune day to make a big-bang announcement, he said.