05-19-2008, 08:36 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Amar, Sonia to break bread on May 22 </b>
Akhilesh Suman | New Delhi
On May 22, when the UPA Government completes four years in office, Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh -- once the most unwanted person for senior Congress leaders -- would have dinner with party president Sonia Gandhi.
<b>It would be a celebration of four years of the Manmohan Singh Government at a dinner hosted at the PM's residence at 7 Race Course Road</b>. Besides UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, the invitees include Cabinet Ministers, the UPA allies and Left leaders. Interestingly, the SP no longer belongs to any of these categories. It had withdrawn support to the UPA Government more than one-and-a-half years ago, after the Congress withdrew support to the Mulayam Singh-led Government in Uttar Pradesh.
The presence of Amar Singh at such a gathering is indicative of the long distance the Congress and the SP have covered since 2004, when Amar Singh first suffered the humiliation of landing at 10 Janpath uninvited to take part in a similar celebration to mark UPA Government's first year in office. Singh had been persuaded by veteran Marxist HKS Surjeet to accompany him to the dinner. The cold reception he got at 10 Japanth stayed with him for long and he never forgot to make a mention of it while attacking the "arrogance" of the Congress leadership.
But times have changed. The invitation for the May 22 bash has been sent by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Amar Singh, Ramgopal Yadav and SP chief whip Mohan Singh. Incidentally, Mohan Singh has played a key role in facilitating the rapprochement between the parties.
Amar Singh is away on a foreign trip but sources close to him confirmed that he was all set to dine with the Congress leaders. He would return on May 22, ostensibly not to miss the invitation. Mohan Singh also confirmed his participation to The Pioneer.
Attaching political significance to the invitation, SP parliamentary party leader Ramgopal Yadav said he had had no such invitation from the UPA Government in the last four years to attend the annual celebration.
The celebration at the Prime Minister's official residence includes the release of a printed report card of the four years' achievements and would conclude with a dinner hosted by him for the well-wishers of the Government, the MPs of supporting parties and the Left Front allies.
<b>Last week, Amar Singh had visited the Prime Minister's residence and extended an offer to mediate between the Government and the Left parties on the India-US civil nuclear agreement. </b>The SP was ready to consider new facts regarding the deal if the Government had any, he had said. His words took everyone by surprise as the party had joined hands with the Left Front to oppose the deal in Parliament
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Celebration of four years of failure of impotent government, India ever had.
Akhilesh Suman | New Delhi
On May 22, when the UPA Government completes four years in office, Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh -- once the most unwanted person for senior Congress leaders -- would have dinner with party president Sonia Gandhi.
<b>It would be a celebration of four years of the Manmohan Singh Government at a dinner hosted at the PM's residence at 7 Race Course Road</b>. Besides UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, the invitees include Cabinet Ministers, the UPA allies and Left leaders. Interestingly, the SP no longer belongs to any of these categories. It had withdrawn support to the UPA Government more than one-and-a-half years ago, after the Congress withdrew support to the Mulayam Singh-led Government in Uttar Pradesh.
The presence of Amar Singh at such a gathering is indicative of the long distance the Congress and the SP have covered since 2004, when Amar Singh first suffered the humiliation of landing at 10 Janpath uninvited to take part in a similar celebration to mark UPA Government's first year in office. Singh had been persuaded by veteran Marxist HKS Surjeet to accompany him to the dinner. The cold reception he got at 10 Japanth stayed with him for long and he never forgot to make a mention of it while attacking the "arrogance" of the Congress leadership.
But times have changed. The invitation for the May 22 bash has been sent by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Amar Singh, Ramgopal Yadav and SP chief whip Mohan Singh. Incidentally, Mohan Singh has played a key role in facilitating the rapprochement between the parties.
Amar Singh is away on a foreign trip but sources close to him confirmed that he was all set to dine with the Congress leaders. He would return on May 22, ostensibly not to miss the invitation. Mohan Singh also confirmed his participation to The Pioneer.
Attaching political significance to the invitation, SP parliamentary party leader Ramgopal Yadav said he had had no such invitation from the UPA Government in the last four years to attend the annual celebration.
The celebration at the Prime Minister's official residence includes the release of a printed report card of the four years' achievements and would conclude with a dinner hosted by him for the well-wishers of the Government, the MPs of supporting parties and the Left Front allies.
<b>Last week, Amar Singh had visited the Prime Minister's residence and extended an offer to mediate between the Government and the Left parties on the India-US civil nuclear agreement. </b>The SP was ready to consider new facts regarding the deal if the Government had any, he had said. His words took everyone by surprise as the party had joined hands with the Left Front to oppose the deal in Parliament
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Celebration of four years of failure of impotent government, India ever had.