Dilli Gupshup: How PM, Sonia beat Dilli ki sardi!

Arun Jaitley's laud-worthy effort...

Revealed! The new 'best friends' in politics...

Akhilesh Yadav's big dilemma...

All this and more in this week's Dilli Gupshup.

The cold spell in the national capital has not just affected the aam janta... it has actually prompted many netas to stay indoors!

Highly-placed sources claim that both Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi have only stepped out for very important engagements.

Most meetings, otherwise, are being held at 7, Race Course Road or 10, Janpath in order to avoid the hard weather outside.

While we were unable to independently confirm Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi's whereabouts, the grapevine strongly indicated he had temporarily moved to more pleasant climes.

Please click on NEXT to find out about BJP leader Arun Jaitley's sardi strategy...

When it comes to bone-chilling winters, BJP stalwart Arun Jaitley seems to prefer a different strategy.

Nothing -- not even temperatures that hover at 1-3 degrees Celsius -- deters the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha from taking his daily constitutional at Delhi's famed Lodhi Gardens.

Considering that the chill has, for the first time in many years, caused a huge drop of 75 per cent in the number of 'morning workers,' it is indeed a laud-worthy effort on Jaitley's part.

And the lawyer, clearly, was well-prepared for his battle... A body warmer, another layer of clothing, jacket, cap, gloves, muffler and socks were clear indicators he would let nothing – especially not a dip in the temperature – warrant a change in his daily routine.

Please click on NEXT to meet the new BFFs in politics...

Guess who the new 'best friends' in New Delhi are these days?

Well, they are none other than Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath.

Considering their history – they were reportedly at loggerheads when Nath was the Union minister for commerce and industry -- this new-found friendship has sent tongues wagging in the Congress.

The warm vibes began when the duo travelled together in a private plane to Chhindwara, Nath's pocket borough, to inaugurate the new branch of a well-known private bank and launch certain key rural banking schemes.

Chidambaram was reportedly impressed by the way Nath was nursing his parliamentary constituency.

Bas, aur kya chahiye tha? Dosti ho gayi!

Please click on NEXT to find out why Jairam Ramesh is pleased with himself...

Jairam Ramesh is a happy man these days.

The Union minister for rural development may have been slighted by the Planning Commission and the Prime Minister's Office, but he remains unfazed.
 
In fact, he is busy writing a paper on women-related issues. The paper will be presented at AICC's Jaipur jamboree scheduled from January 18-20.

The reason why Ramesh is so happy, we hear, is because he was specially picked by Sonia Gandhi to draft the woman-centric paper.

Please click on NEXT to find out why Akhilesh Yadav is a worried man...

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is a worried man.

Each time he steps out of Lucknow, he is asked about free distribution of laptops to the youth.

Yadav had grandly made this poll promise but is now having problems fulfilling it.

The state's finance officers have warned the chief minister that executing this promise will result in a huge financial burden on the state's exchequer.

The young chief minister is, however, unwilling to go back on his promise.

And so, the tug of war continues!