Senior moment

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is known to have an exceptional memory, and can (for instance) recall the details of a meeting he had with Jyoti Basu a decade ago. So it came as a bit of a surprise when, while replying to the Budget debate, Mukherjee referred to some comments made by CPI(M) MP Md Salim on the alleged neglect of PSUs — Salim, it appears, didn’t even take part in the budget debate. Mukherjee wasn’t all wrong though. It appears Salim made these remarks while replying to the President’s address. So Mukherjee got the facts straight, he just forgot where they’d been made.