Seats of power

The attendance for the press briefing by Nitin Jairam Gadkari after taking charge as minister for roads, transport and highways and shipping was far larger than expected. So much so that minutes before the briefing started, the minister had to ask for a chair for National Highways Authority of India Chairman R P Singh, who could not find a place to sit despite chairs being reserved for officials. Interestingly, the minister directed the secretary, the senior-most bureaucrat in the ministry, to give up his chair. Even more interestingly, the secretary duly obeyed initially, then changed his mind and asked somebody else to vacate his chair, after which Mr Singh was seated.