Rahul at the gates

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi had his initiation of parliamentary democracy not inside Parliament but outside it. He uttered his first words today as a Lok Sabha MP not in front of the Speaker but before cameras and microphones near the gates of Parliament House.

The Congress had unleashed the junior Gandhi and his band of two dozen young MPs as the 8216;8216;charm offensive8217;8217; to counter the NDA8217;s call to stall Parliament in the ongoing Budget Session, over the Jharkhand Governor8217;s decision to swear in the Shibu Soren government.

The team included Jitin Prasad, Sachin Pilot, Sandeep Dixit, Naveen Jindal, Ajay Maken, Kuldeep Bishnoi, Madhu Gaur, Tejeswani and others. The Congress 8216;baba8217; brigade had chosen their form of protest carefully 8212; in contrast to the vociferous protests of the NDA MPs, the young MPs sat in silent protest under the gaze of the Mahatma, in front of the main entrance of Parliament. They refused to talk to reporters , and after 20 minutes of their silent dharna, got up to attend the morning session.