Delhi confidential: No more begging

Venkaiah Naidu

The British left India 70 years ago, but some colonial baggage has stayed. It took Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu to flag the dispensability of the words “Sir, I beg….” while seeking to place a paper on the table of the House. “There is no need for anybody to beg because we are in a free India,” Naidu told ministers and others, suggesting to them that they could just say: “I rise to place on the table of the House….”

Tractor ride

The Lok Sabha Secretariat was told that INLD member Dushyant Chautala would come in a vehicle different from the car registered with the Secretariat. On the first day of the Winter Session, Chautala, accompanied by party MPs Charanjit Singh Rori and Ram Kumar Kashyap, arrived at the Parliament complex on a tractor. He was stopped at the entrance. After some wrangling, the MPs were allowed to attend Parliament. It turned out that Dushyant had taken permission for using a vehicle with a different number because his officially registered car was in a workshop. “We didn’t foresee it (the other vehicle) would be a tractor,” a source said.

All eyes on Shah

A corner bench in the Central Hall of Parliament became the cynosure of all eyes on the first day of the Winter Session. The occupant of the bench was BJP president Amit Shah. Flanked by Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan and party general secretary Bhupendra Yadav, the BJP chief was around for a short time. All heads turned as he walked to the exit. He stopped to seek the blessings of party senior Murli Manohar Joshi.

Wanted: New Year off

The government machinery is working on New Year’s day but our public representatives want an off to celebrate it. TRS leader in the Lok Sabha, A P Jithender Reddy, sought to camouflage the desire for a holiday differently. “We need an off to seek the blessings of elders,” Reddy pleaded with Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan at the session-eve all-party meeting. “I am also your elder, do take my blessings then,” Mahajan told him.