The Hindu Business Line : Making a point

The West Bengal Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is obviously someone special for the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The Press Information Bureau put out a release on Wednesday, listing some of the leaders who had greeted Manmohan Singh on his birthday. While the release named the President, the Vice-President, the Lok Sabha Speaker and UPA Chairperson, it went on to add that several senior Congress leaders, Cabinet Ministers and Chief Ministers sent their greetings to the Prime Minister.While it can safely be assumed that most Chief Ministers would have greeted the PM, the only one to be specifically named is Mr Bhattacharjee. “Among those who spoke to the Prime Minister on telephone and greeted him was Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal,” the official release said. Scribes are wondering whether Bhattacharjee is really someone special for the Prime Minister or is it a case of making another point to the CPI(M) leadership in Delhi, with whom relations are somewhat estranged after the Indo-US civil nuclear deal.

OUR NEW DELHI BUREAU