PARLIAMENT DIARY
On Wednesday, finance minister Arun Jaitley not only had a meeting with newly-elected Punjab chief minister Amrinder Singh, but he also invited him for a sumptuous lunch — which was essentially an Amritsari spread — and spoke heart to heart in their mother tongue, Punjabi. Later, the finance minister told his close circle that this time he found Mr Singh quite receptive and that the CM was explaining the financial position of Punjab, a debt-ridden state, realistically. The finance minister also explained to him the constitutional position of the government in helping a particular state. However, neither revealed whether they discussed Navjot Singh Sidhu’s TV appearance issue. Mr Jaitley has already told quite a few senior Congress leaders that in this matter the Constitution is very clear — no minister of any government can earn money from any other source.