The international conference to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru held by the out-of-power Congress party was in the headlines for the people who were not invited - Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies prominent among them. So it was not entirely unexpected when the Congress claimed that the government had tried to sabotage its conference. What with refusing it permission for the venue, Vigyan Bhavan, on November 14, the Congress alleged that its international guests were not accorded the respect due to former heads of state. So when the microphones at the press conference on the first day didn't work, the party's television panelist Randeep Surjewala quipped with tongue firmly in cheek "political conspiracy!" evoking much laughter.
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