By IANS,
New Delhi : A day-long debate in the Lok Sabha Tuesday on the drought conditions in several parts of the country had several “Kisan ke bete (Sons of farmers)” missing while they otherwise wax eloquent on issues concerning agriculture.
Most of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members were missing. So were the champions of the cause of the Hindi heartland like Lalu Prasad, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Sharad Yadav, who variously describe themselves as “Kisan ke bete” — all could not be seen for the most part of the debate.
However, BJP leader L.K. Advani was there in the evening — at a time most senior members are generally not present — about half-an-hour before Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar was to reply to the debate.
Pawar did not move an inch from his seat all through and listened with rapt attention as the MPs – not that there were many – spoke.
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Baalu ‘speaks up’ for BJP
A minister in the previous Manmohan Singh government and dropped this time, T.R. Baalu of the DMK, spoke spiritedly on the lack of rain – and for good measure, criticised the government for not pursuing an ambitious project to link the country’s rivers.
There were very few MPs in the opposition benches to applaud him for remembering this pet project of the then BJP-led government when it was in power 1999-2004 to link all the country’s major rivers. Baalu seldom spoke about it when in the government.
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Jayaprada turns ‘sincere’ MP
The Samajwadi Party’s Jayaprada was known for her range of histrionics on the silver screen. Now, she has brought the same intensity of purpose to parliament at a time when many actors-turned-MPs are conspicuous more for their absence than their presence in the house during the debates on various issues.
She sits in the Lok Sabha for hours, takes copious notes and closely reads through parliamentary papers. Her reading glasses are always on, while her dress sense – sober and light-colour sarees – makes her appear like an academic going about her work methodically.
Jayaprada also participates in the debates and has many searching questions to ask.
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‘Mayawati is the best’
“Our chief minister is worried the most about the drought conditions in Uttar Pradesh. She is very different from the rest and goes about her job with honesty and responsibility,” Dara Singh, the Bahujan Samaj Party MP from Uttar Pradesh, just could not stop gushing over his party chief Mayawati.
His speech in the Lok Sabha was a virtual tribute to Mayawati for declaring a drought in several districts in Uttar Pradesh and criticising the central government for not similarly doing so.