Flight plan

Old connections come in handy, as NCP leader and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar figured out the other day. The occasion was a visit by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Maharashtra on Friday. Keen to welcome Singh when he landed at Aurangabad—such courtesies do matter in politics—Pawar turned to old Assembly colleague Pratibha Patil for help. The President was also headed for Aurangabad (as part of a personal itinerary to neighbouring Jalgaon, her hometown) and protocol warranted her landing before the Prime Minister. So Pawar hopped on board the Embraer flying Patil and reached Aurangabad well in time to welcome the Prime Minister. It was another confrontation with this jinx about Gondia airport, however, for Pawar’s junior colleague in the NCP, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel. Singh called off plans to lay the foundation stone for the airport after Baba Amte’s death.