Vocal discord

Though Sonia Gandhi and Pranab Mukherjee were able to prevail upon Lalu Prasad Yadav on the question of introducing the women8217;s reservation bill in Parliament at a late-night Cabinet meeting, the RJD chief insisted that his party would at least register a token protest to which the Government agreed. The problem for the RJD then was to find the protester. Of its two members in the Rajya Sabha, one is Prem Chand Gupta, a cabinet minister, who obviously could not run down his Government8217;s step. The only option was the other Rajya Sabha member Rajniti Prasad, a frail looking man hardly known for the kind of lung power that Lalu or Raghuvansh Prasad command. Undeterred, the RJD honchos drafted a speech for the MP and made him rehearse it several times at Lalu8217;s residence. All that effort, however, went in vain as the MP8217;s vocal chords could hardly make an impact amid the din created by SP members the day the bill was introduced in the Upper House.