No saying cheese

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee is known for skipping crucial cabinet meetings. On Thursday, she showed she had little interest in the group photo-op of the 15th Lok Sabha. Banerjee was present in Delhi but chose not to be part of the photo-op, scheduled for 9:30 am. Banerjee’s key aide, Ratan Mukherjee, said: “She is generally averse to the idea of photo sessions. When she became MP for the first time in 1984, she had come for the group photo. After that, she didn’t participate in any photo sessions of Parliament.” There will be another photo session towards the end of the 15th Lok Sabha, probably in 2013. But by that time, Banerjee would, probably, like to see herself on West Bengal chief minister’s chair, not in Parliament.