By IANS,
New Delhi : Krishna Tirath, Congress MP from Karol Bagh in New Delhi, is known for creating a faux pas or two in the Lok Sabha while conducting the session in the absence of the speaker.
During a debate on the Railways Appropriation Bill, eight cut motions were moved at one go. The cut motions – which are merely symbolic and are always voted out – were put to vote. Tirath, instead of saying ‘The nayes have it’, uttered: “The ayes have it, the ayes have it.” Railway Minister Lalu Prasad muttered: “Madam bhi kya karti hai (what is she doing).”
During another debate, Tirath was heard urging a member: “Please, finish your speech fastly.”
“Why doesn’t she speak in Hindi in which she is so fluent, instead of speaking in English?” a Congressman grumbled later.
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Karnataka aspirants queue up
The corridors of parliament have a sizable number of ticket aspirants from Karnataka, which is going to polls in May. Most of them are Congress members. Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi, who is one of the senior leaders managing the party’s campaign in the state, was seen giving a sympathetic ear to a group of aspirants.
The aspirants want to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and also External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee. When no party leaders were around, some of them turned to journalists, pleaded their case, and asked them to put across their views to senior ministers.
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Rare show of unity
Shipping, Road and Surface Transport Minister T. R. Baalu faced uproar from all sections of the Lok Sabha when he claimed that there were enough ambulances and cranes on our highways for use during emergencies.
The moment Baalu made this claim, members seated in different sections of the house booed him, saying this was a false claim.
Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, making light of the moment, said that he was happy to find so much unity in the house. He added the central government should motivate the state governments to take action in this regard.