By IANS,
New Delhi : Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee heaved a sigh of relief and even showed sparks of his trademark humour Wednesday when the house conducted the Question Hour without any hitch.
“It shows that we can work very efficiently. People watched the proceedings of the house for an hour and did not have to leave after just two minutes,” Chatterjee said. On Tuesday, he was forced to adjourn the house for the day due to unruly scenes over the issue of price rise.
“I express my gratitude and happiness to the members. This is the way the glory of the house is maintained,” he added.
Chatterjee was in an upbeat mood. When he entered the house, he was greeted with “Sat Sri Akaal”, “Vanakkam”, “Namaste” and other greetings. He replied with, “Jai Sansad”.
Realising that many of the members whose questions were listed for hearing Wednesday were absent, he quipped, “Today is not Monday but there is thin attendance. Seems everybody thought there would be no session.”
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Maneka Gandhi shows sympathy for journo
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP and animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi habitually chats with one and sundry while walking through parliament house. While waiting for her car Tuesday, she was seen chatting with some photojournalists at Gate no. 2 of the Parliament House. She asked a woman photojournalist about the heavy equipment that she was carrying. When the woman murmured something, Gandhi asked, “Abhi tak spondilitis nahi hua (Haven’t you got spondalities till now due to constantly carrying this heavy load)?”
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Pilot sings paeans to Indira Gandhi
Sachin Pilot Wednesday got a lot of kudos from the press and fellow MPs after giving a fiery speech in the Lok Sabha on price rise and the government measures to control it. He appeared pleased and was seen eagerly talking to others.
Like a true Congressman, he sung paeans to the Gandhi family (he mentioned the 1971 ‘Garibi Hatao’ – remove poverty – slogan of Indira Gandhi) in his speech. He also asked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to rein in its traditional supporters (traders) to make them stop hoarding and help bring down price rise.
Switching over to Hindi, he said: “There will be lots of opportunities to play politics. I pray with folded hands that the BJP should refrain from politics. Those affected are not just voters but citizens of this country.”
Pilot, who was tipped to get a berth in the union ministry at the reshuffle last week, failed to make it.
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Senior Deora yawns, his son gets restless in house
Milind Deora, son of Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, keeps a safe distance from his father in the house. On Wednesday, while Deora senior was sitting alone on the treasury benches and at times yawning during the monotonous debates, Milind sat in one of the last rows.
He was seen chatting with fellow MPs. He even took frequent breaks to go out, unlike his dad who spent the Question Hour in his seat.