PARLIAMENT DIARY

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN REPORTEDLY UNDER THE WEATHER, DID NOT ATTEND HOUSE

Rajya

Sabha deputy chairman P. J. Kurien did not attend the House on Thursday as he was reportedly ill. However, he came to his chamber in the Parliament office in the morning. In his absence, CPM MP T. K. Rangarajan had to conduct the House which was repeatedly disrupted by both the treasury as well as Opposition benches. MPs from Kerala have a different story about the deputy chairman’s absence. On Wednesday, the deputy chairman ordered one TDP MP Ramesh to withdraw from the House, but he refused to leave. The House marshal was called. Even he could not remove him.

The deputy chairman then adjourned the House. After some time, top ministers of the NDA government were seen meeting the Chairman in his chamber. When the House resumed, a visibly upset deputy chairman adjourned it for the day.

Earlier, he had removed one Congress MP for protesting in the well with a poster in his hand.

However, TDP being an ally of the ruling party, perhaps a different yardstick was followed. When some Opposition members enquired about his absence from the House on Thursday, he gave a short reply: “I am upset.”

AFTER MANJIRA, TDP COMES WITH A PELLET DRUM IN LOK SABHA

In the Lok Sabha, NDA ally TDP raises its demand in an innovative way almost every day. As there is no restriction from the Chair, party members keep demanding a special package for the state of Andhra.

Neither the government nor the Speaker gives much importance to their protest. The other day, a TDP MP came with a Manjira. On Thursday, they came with a pellet drum and played it throughout the day. Some of them sat in the well. What’s more, they laid over one another. Interestingly, in the Rajya Sabha, P. P. Chowdhury, leader of the TDP Parliamentary party, who happens to be a member of the council of ministers, raised demand for the special package. The minister of state for parliamentary affairs Vijay Goel replied that the government would look into the demand. It was the first time that a minister from the Cabinet raised the issue inside the House.

BHARAT RATNA SOUGHT FOR CHIEF MINISTER MAMATA BANERJEE

TMC MP Idris Ali could not speak in the Zero Hour on Thursday because of the ongoing Budget discussion. It was told by the Chair that MPs could lay their representations on the table of the House. Mr Ali laid his submission accordingly. The submission was that the government should confer the Bharat Ratna Award on West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee as she is an “idol of peace, strength of poor, security for women and an admirable leadership in the federal government”. In his submission, he also said that the work of West Bengal chief minister has been acknowledged even by the United Nations.