No love lost

Former union rural development minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh may have become vocal against UPA after his party (RJD) broke the alliance with the Congress, but he still enjoys a lot of goodwill in the ruling establishment. Both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi have great appreciation for Singh, who played a key role in rolling out the landmark rural job scheme. Last week, Singh was chatting with his peers in the Central Hall of Parliament when, to his surprise, the prime minister walked up to him. “I have received your letter. Thank you for your suggestions”, the PM told Singh, who had written to the PM about public distribution system issues. Later, Singh was boasting in the Central hall, “Nitish Kumar writes so many letters to the prime minister. Did he ever get such personal acknowledgement?”