Selling Air India is not going to solve its problems, says Derek O'Brien

O'Brien has tried to fill the breach left by the near demise of the Left parties and the ongoing crisis in the Congress

Saravana Bhawan on Saturday morning 9.15 am is a lone hive of activity in the usually frenetic Connaught Place in central Delhi. The McDonald’s next door is devoid of customers. Saravana suffers from the opposite problem; queues outside its doors on a Saturday are par for the course. Knowing this, we are, literally and metaphorically, at a sprint as we coordinate our scramble for a table at the south Indian restaurant. 

It is a few minutes before Derek O’ Brien, Rajya Sabha MP for Trinamool Congress, arrives. As a setting for an interview, Saravana is a less than ideal choice. It