Birthday surprise for Jairam Ramesh

Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh had a pleasant surprise in store for him at the all-party meeting on Land Acquisition Bill, which coincided with his birthday. Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj spilled the beans, when she inquired with Jairam whether he had received the bouquet she had sent him. Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath soon followed it up by asking all the leaders present on the occasion to join him to greet Jairam on the occasion. Obviously overwhelmed by the gesture, Jairam was visibly touched by the goodwill shown to him by all the leaders. Reacting to greetings from all around, Jairam Ramesh said the best birthday gift for him would be if all leaders come together to pass the contentious Land Acquisition Bill that has been hanging fire for a long time now. Besides piloting one of the key legislations of the government, the Union Minister also doubles with his pioneering work in the Congress War Room at 15, Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Road in the capital, where the party holds strategy sessions to prepare the party for the General Election in 2014. He has the distinction of being associated with the Congress War Room since the run up to the General Election in 2004, again in 2009 and now in 2014.