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Sunday, May 11, 2008
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The silent treatment

New Delhi: Coming face to face for the first time after the Human Resource Development Minister’s criticism of the way the Congress leadership evaluated loyalty in the party, Sonia Gandhi and Arjun Singh on Saturday gave each other the silent treatment.

They shared the dais at the convocation of Jamia Hamdard University here, but there was no exchange of pleasantries.

The UPA chairperson entered the venue as part of the convocation procession and walked up to the stage.

Mr. Singh, who uses a walking stick, was not part of the procession, but walked in through a door that forms the VIP exit from the stage.

There was no exchange of greetings and no interaction between the two leaders throughout the two-hour ceremony.

Vice-Chancellor S. Ahmad occupied the seat between Ms. Gandhi and Mr. Singh.

Ms. Gandhi made a special mention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying he had put his personal imprint on the initiatives to expand the infrastructure for higher education.

Mr. Singh on Friday took another potshot at the party leadership by lamenting that evaluation of loyalty was being done in a “very limited context.”

Mr. Singh in an interview to journalist Kanhaiyalal Nandan in a book titled “Mohin Kahan Vishram” said the decision-making in the Congress had fallen into disarray.

Earlier, his statement that there was no harm in projecting Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate had received a snub from the leadership. — PTI

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