By IANS,
New Delhi : Once known as the stormy petrel of the Rajya Sabha treasury benches, V. Narayanasamy is these days seen in his new avatar as the minister of state for planning and parliamentary affairs.
Ever quick to the draw, Narayanasamy had the ability to outshout virtually any MP in the opposition benches barring perhaps S.S. Ahluwalia of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Ahluwalia was part of the Congress’ shouting brigade when Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister in the mid-1980s before he switched to the BJP. During previous sessions of the Rajya Sabha, it was quite an event watching Ahluwalia and Narayanasamy attempt to outshout each other. When it seemed the situation could go out of hand, Narayanasamy’s predecessor, Suresh Pachauri, would often turn around to calm him down.
As one Rajya Sabha veteran put it Friday: “Who will Narayanasamy now quieten down? Sadly, there is no one to take his place.”
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Rahul’s walk in corridors of power
Congress general secretary and MP Rahul Gandhi was seen chatting on his blue mobile phone in the corridors of parliament just before the Lok Sabha adjourned for the lunch break Friday.
Wearing a white kurta and pyjama with his black sandals, he looked every bit a victor, laughing loudly and coolly ambling along for over 15 minutes. There was only one security guard around him.
Few people noticed Rahul’s presence outside the lobby. The securityman followed the young leader when he rushed towards the lobby after his conversation.
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Few in number, Left shouts louder
With their numbers having fallen in the 15th Lok Sabha, the Communists seem to be trying harder to make their presence felt in parliament and evidently want the media to take note of it.
Communist Party of India (CPI) veteran Gurudas Dasgupta just didn’t know how to end his speech during the debate on the general budget Friday and would not stop despite Speaker Meira Kumar repeatedly asking him to conclude. On the fourth attempt, the speaker virtually forced him to finish his address.
Later in the parliament lobby, he informally asked a couple of journalists: “Did you hear my speech?”
When one reporter said he had not, Dasgupta did not like it. However, the journalist quickly told him his colleague covered the speech, following which the Communist leader nodded and walked away.
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Solar light at end of tunnel?
In the era of popular announcements, Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah is not one to be left behind. He told parliament Friday that the government was planning to distribute solar lanterns in the tribal areas of the country.
It will help students in tribal areas learn their lessons at night, the minister said during question hour. But he was quick to concede that solar power was expensive.
“The cost of one unit of solar power is Rs.15,” the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said, adding the government would take steps to reduce the production cost of the solar panel.