15th Lok Sabha goes...

Mulayam Singh Yadav, whose Samajwadi Party has lately been at odds with the Congress, thanked Gandhi, saying she had always acted “whenever I passed on slips requesting something”.

BJP patriarch LK Advani was seen with moist eyes. Gurudas Dasgupta of the CPI sought introspection on the way Parliament was functioning while the JD(U)’s Sharad Yadav asked members to forget the acrimony and make the future of the country their priority.

However, Congress vicepresident Rahul Gandhi took a dig at the BJP for not agreeing to extend the session, and said the government would consider the ordinance route for the disability rights bill. Government sources said it may not be the only bill to be enacted through an ordinance. Several anti-corruptions bills, including one providing timebound delivery of government services, could go the same way before the announcement of general elections in March first week.

But all that won’t stop the 15th Lok Sabha from going down in history as the worst performing lower House since Independence. Of 289 bill introduced, 70 lapsed — the highest ever — and the House functioned for just 61% of allocated time.

Its troubles started way back in 2010, when the 2G spectrum scam allowed that winter session to work for just 5.5% of the allocated time. House productivity rose to 89% in the 2012 budget session but it was all downhill after that. An uproar over the coal block allocation scam and demands for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s resignation scuttled the monsoon session that followed. As parties geared up for polls, productivity fell to a dismal 8% in the 2013 winter session.

Bunty then came back home and locked himself up in his room. Neighbours subsequently reported hearing a loud explosion followed by flames erupting from the room. Bunty’s charred body was later found on the floor.

The police suspect Bunty caused the blast by igniting the gas he had released from the cooking gas cylinder. The police also confirmed that all ornaments were found intact on Willinger’s body, indicating that the motive of the murder wasn’t loot.

Willinger, an admirer of Indian culture, wanted to improve civic conditions in Agra. On the day she was killed, she had addressed a press conference in the afternoon to promote her campaign “Agra Sunder Hai” and received support from several local NGOs.