Heat turned low for Housewarming

For the first time in Lok Sabha, both the ruling party and the main Opposition were led not by their appointed leaders but by super-leaders before whom members from all sides bowed and swayed.

The sole agenda of the first day was the swearing-in of members and the order said it all. Pro-tem Speaker Somnath Chatterjee first called on Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee to take oath. Second in line was Leader of Opposition L K Advani. And then, reflecting the unusual nature of the hierarchies in both Congress and BJP, Vajpayee and Sonia took the oath. After that came the panel of chairpersons, the council of ministers, and a state-wise roll call of members in the alphabetical order.

While Pranab Mukherjee sat in the Number Two position in the first row of the treasury benches besides Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi sat in the front row of the second section of the treasury benches where ‘‘ordinary members’’ or ‘‘non-ministers’’ usually sit.

Similarly, Advani occupied the seat on the Opposition benches where Sonia Gandhi sat all through the 13th Lok Sabha, while Vajpayee was a couple of seats away in the same front row.

However, every new minister — in a gesture which reflects the inherent goodwill that marks India’s parliamentary democracy despite the often bitter partisan debates — made it a point to walk up to the Opposition leaders and greet them before making their way back to their seats.

But even by these standards of bipartisan bonhomie, Mani Shankar Aiyar’s gesture took everyone by surprise. The newly appointed Cabinet minister and the most vocal critic of the BJP in the erstwhile Opposition actually touched Vajpayee’s feet after taking oath, and then greeted a grim-faced Sonia before returning to his perch on the treasury benches.

The sense of disorientation was also palpable. BJP leaders looked a trifle uncomfortable in their new positions on the opposite side of the House.

But the new occupants of the treasury benches — never dreaming that they would be there when the 13th House was dissolved — were a lot more disoriented. This was reflected best by RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh who entered the House from the door on the far side, instead of the one meant for ministers.

As he entered the House from the ‘‘Opposition door’’, there was laughter all around and Laloo Prasad Yadav even ticked him off for forgetting that he was now in the ruling coalition, and a Cabinet minister to boot.