Even Pranab gets calls from loan firms

One came during meeting with Swaraj, Jaitley

PTI | August 4, 2010



Don't fret. Even Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is not immune to unsolicited calls from loan companies. On Monday morning, when Mukherjee was in intense discussions to break the price rise logjam with Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, her counterpart in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley and other leaders, he got a call on his mobile.

Those present at the meeting said Mukherjee asked his aides to hand him the mobile, thinking it must be an important call.

However, the short-tempered leader made a face and told the caller, "No, no. Not now. I am in a meeting."

Visibly angry, he handed over his mobile to Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V Narayansamy.

When others asked who had called, an embarrassed Mukherjee said it was one of the finance companies which had called to offer him a home loan.

He then said he gets four-five such calls every day.

A few months ago, RIL chief and India's richest man Mukesh Ambani had got a similar call from a finance company offering him a home loan.

Some MPs complained that these calls are a regular feature despite subscribing to the "Do Not Call (DND)" service, forcing them to renew the service every month.

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