Pawar indifferent to Sonia’s ‘guidance’
While Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee expressed his "gratitude to UPA supporters who walked the extra mile with us in this journey", Agriculture Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar was not seen in a very appreciative mood when it came to thank Sonia Gandhi for her "guidance".
As Mukherjee thanked Gandhi for her able leadership, many UPA allies were seen thumping the desks but Pawar didn't move. It may be recalled that Pawar recently stated that he wishes to become the Prime Minister of the next government.
CPI(M) says Interim Budget ineffective
The CPI(M) publicly slammed the Budget for doing nothing to tackle global meltdown. Privately the CPI(M) leaders joked that the Interim Budget document was another draft manifesto of the Congress.
"The government had turned President Pratibha Patil's speech into the first draft of their manifesto. Now the second draft has come before the final draft comes from the party's headquarters," said a politburo member of the CPI(M).
