GUIDING LIGHT

July, giving the officials barely a month to collect data on Aadhaar and DBT in 300 priority districts and submit a status report to the PMO. Though the Independence Day deadline means Modi might not be able to use any of it in his speech, there is still speculation about the possibility of the PM making a big announcement on this front.

HOUSE HUMOUR

Speaking during the discussion on communal violence in the House, BJP MP Kirti Azad made several references to Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi’s address on the same matter and countered many of Owaisi’s points. With Owaisi not present in the House, this prompted Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge to raise a point of order, saying Azad should not be commenting about a member who was not present in the House. “Kharge kyun bhadke?”Azad shot back, hastening to add a line from a famous Bollywood number. “Shola kyun bhadke?’ Azad said, leaving the House in splits.

IN A HURRY

Rajya Sabha MPs were clearly in a hurry to wrap up proceedings on the last day of the current Parliament session when two bills were slated to be passed. When debate stretched till 4 pm, an agitated Naresh Agarwal of Samajwadi Party stood up to inquire about the House’s commitment of finishing proceedings by 3.30 pm. Deputy Chairman P J Kurien assured him that he had to go to Kerala so certainly Agarwal was not travelling farther than him. Meanwhile, CPI’s D Raja stuck strictly to the time allotted, prompting Kurien to describe him as ‘disciplined Raja’.