The Congress party’s first-family loyalist and member of parliament Mani Shankar Aiyar is rarely sensible. So when he possibly is, one should take note. One such occasion came recently when he said, “I agree that the PM must spend much more time in parliament than he does and there must be a PM’s question time.”

Given our prime minister’s continued absence from parliament, more importantly during times of crises (like the ongoing parliamentary logjam on FDI in retail issue), Aiyar’s statement assumes significance.

After the opposition attacked the PM for being absent from the parliament all along the din over FDI in retail issue, Aiyar said, “I completely agree, number one, a PM sets the tone for a democracy, Nehru was a permanent fixture on the front benches….”   

While Aiyar might sound genuine in his criticism of PM’s absence from parliament, comparing Singh (who ain’t no king!) to Nehru is not fair, more so since Nehru had no ‘madam’ to report to!