Ever since Pranab da has settled down at Raisina Hills, there has been a paucity of firefighters in the Congress. As a replacement for Pranab da, the PMO and 10, Janpath, considered the name of A K Anthony so that he could take over dada’s role. But Anthony can’t speak in Hindi and the direction of the UPA is currently being influenced a little too much by leaders from north India. While looking for someone who can communicate in typical political language and establish communication and dialogue with the same finesse in Hindi, Chidambaram’s name was considered after Anthony’s and then rejected on the same grounds. The matter was kept on the backburner for a while. Then one day Kamal Nath and Rajiv Shukla met the prime minister and requested him to take over this part of the politics himself. It was then that the idea of dinner diplomacy took root and the beginning was with leaders such as Mayavati and Mulayam Singh. Later, BJP leaders were also sent similar dinner invites.