Delhi Confidential: HELPING HAND

House Melee
AS Lok Sabha was in the process of passing the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, there was cacophony in the House as parliamentarians from different parties came to the Well shouting slogans for different reasons. CPM and Trinamool Congress MPs were together in shouting slogans against the bifurcation of the state with the latter shouting slogans like “aaj ka din kaalaa hai, Congress-BJP jodi (pair) hai, Sushma-Sonia jodi hai, Rahul-Modi jodi hai”. While she may be a Lok Sabha MP from Rampur in Uttar Pradesh, cinestar-turned-parliamentarian Jaya Prada who is said to be seeking Congress ticket joined slogan-shouting Seemandhara MPs in the Well to protest against the bifurcation of her home state. Bodoland People’s Front MP S K Bwiswmuthiary constantly raised slogans but what he was protesting against remained inaudible. For a change, Rahul Gandhi sat through one-and-a-half-hour long proceedings.

Farewell Banter
AS Rajya Sabha Tuesday bid an emotional farewell to 54 Members of Parliament whose tenure drew to an end, there were some light moments. Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley said the day was important not only because some members were retiring but also because it was due to their retirement that everyone was finally being allowed to speak in the House in this session. CPM MP Sitaram Yechury pointed out that while the outgoing MPs may no longer be members of the Upper House, they will forever be ‘ex-MP’. Adding to the amusement, Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari who was calling on members to give farewell speeches in honour of the retiring members called out Shivanand Tiwari’s name. JD(U)’s Tiwari stood up to point out that he was also retiring.

Security cordon
IT was a case of once bitten twice shy for Parliament security establishment and Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar when it came to dealing with the 16 suspended MPs Tuesday. Many of the MPs turned up in Parliament and one gets to hear that three Parliament security staff each were put on duty to watch the movements of every MP. While the suspended MPs could not enter the House, they could enter the Parliament complex premises and could go to the Central Hall. Sources in the Parliament security establishment said they had orders to ensure that no untoward incident took place. One of the TDP MPs did try to enter but was dissuaded by marshals.

Reaching out
AS the National Advisory Council that gave a say in governance to civil society activists will soon cease to exist, the Congress has set up a sort of formal mechanism to reach out to NGOs that seem to be gravitating towards the AAP. Appointing All India Mahila Congress office-bearers Tuesday, the party appointed ‘NGO Coordination Committee’ in five states — MP, Karnataka, Gujarat, Kerala and Haryana. Sources said these committees would work with NGOs to understand issues of women so the Mahila Congress could effectively raise it on party fora.