3 min readMay 19, 2023 11:18 AM IST
First published on: Feb 8, 2018 at 03:12 AM IST
The Ramayana made a surprise entry amid the high-octane speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Rajya Sabha. And hours later, BJP’s IT wing head Amit Malviya filled in the blanks. While the Prime Minister was arguing that the Aadhaar scheme was conceptualised by the A B Vajpayee government, Congress member Renuka Chowdhury laughed out hysterically. As Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu pulled her up for her conduct and told her that he may have to name her, Modi requested him not to say anything to her. He said he heard such laughter for the first time after the Ramayan serial telecast on Indian television in the late 80s. Hours later, Malviya tweeted a clip of Surpanakha laughing out loud from the serial with a comment: “Someone sent me this video clip from Ramayana in response to ‘identify the laughter’ contest… Can you identify her?”
Smashing Debut
MANY OF the Congress members, who spoke during the debate on the President’s Address in Rajya Sabha, may have been disappointed by what they saw on Wednesday when Sanjay Singh, the newly elected AAP MP, was speaking. Members of their party and other opposition members thumped the desks and cheered loudly as Singh tore into the BJP. None of the Congress speakers got such loud applause and support. Congress’s Pramod Tiwari, who was sitting in the second row, moved to the back benches to cheer Singh. When the BJP members disrupted Singh, the entire Congress rose up in unison and shouted them down. They made Singh’s maiden speech memorable for him, encouraging him to say more. They even argued with the Chair when he asked him to sit down after completion of the 15 minutes allocated to him. When Singh finally ended his speech, Tiwari walked up to him to congratulate him. The new-found AAP-Congress bonhomie in Parliament will surely not be to Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken’s liking.
Light Moments
DISCUSSIONS ON privacy during hearing on petitions challenging the Aadhaar Act turned hilarious when Justice A K Sikri revealed what brother Judge D Y Chandrachud had told him about a visit to a Chinese restaurant with his wife some days ago. “He (Justice Chandrachud) told the waiter that the dish he had at the restaurant five months ago was very tasty and wanted the same but didn’t remember its name. At this the waiter pulled out the bill of Justice Chandrachud’s last visit and told him the name of the dish which he then ordered.” Justice Chandrachud sitting nearby remarked, “I was really scared.” Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, who was making his submissions, said, “I envy you because I have not been able to take my wife for a Chinese dinner in a long time.”
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