It's not just her party colleagues who are intimidated by Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s aloofness and touch-me-not mannerisms. Opposition politicians like L.K. Advani and Amar Singh have felt snubbed in the past and even Vajpayee’s staff once complained that Sonia was one of the very few politicians who never bothered to send a ‘get well soon’ message after his knee operation in Mumbai. Sonia’s son seems keen to do some fence-mending and demonstrate that the Gandhi family does not regard political foes as untouchables. Some time back, at the Delhi airport VIP lounge, Rahul Gandhi walked up to Advani and introduced himself. The BJP leader was touched by his gesture. Recently, when Amar Singh’s father died, Gandhi sent him a condolence letter which Singh describes as an emotional letter. Subsequently, the two have talked on the telephone. Amar Singh, who for long nursed a grievance that he had been humiliated and labeled a gatecrasher at Sonia’s first dinner for the UPA allies back in 2004, has consequently mellowed towards the Congress.

Railroading tactics

There was a heated exchange between Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy at a Cabinet meet last week. Yadav charged that the Delhi Metro was extending much beyond its territory. By moving deep into Haryana and UP, the Delhi Metro was snatching commuters away from the railways and eating into railway revenues. Reddy’s contention was that the Metro was expanding in preparation for the Commonwealth Games. It was finally agreed that the Metro would under no circumstances proceed beyond Ghaziabad.

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