PARLIAMENT DIARY
AFTER TRIPURA VICTORY, AMIT SHAH THE TOAST OF HOUSE
Parliament is not functioning these days. Nonetheless, BJP president Amit Shah is attending the Rajya Sabha regularly. Whenever the House gets adjourned, he comes and spends some time in the Central Hall.
The moment he comes to the
House, he is surrounded by MPs and journalists. He happily obliges the journos, giving an in- depth idea of the party’s strategy for the coming polls in different states, particularly in West Bengal. The MPs are also happy to see their party president spending some time with them in a relaxed manner.
SONIA HAS A TETE- A- TETE WITH OPPOSITION
On Wednesday, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan called a meeting of the floor leaders to resolve the ongoing impasse in Parliament. When the House was adjourned at noon for the day, Sonia Gandhi informally met the leaders of the main Opposition parties inside the chamber of the Lok Sabha. TMC Parliamentary Party whip Kalyan Banerjee, MP Sougata Roy and BJD’S Vatrihari Mahatab discussed a common strategy to place before the Speaker. It was decided that all the Opposition parties demand a discussion on the recent bank scam under the adjournment motion. Later, the TDP said the parties may agree to a debate, but they will not stop disrupting the House for the whole session if their demand for special package for Andhra Pradesh is not met.
MPS FIND A NICHE FOR THEIR PLACARDS
In this session, most of the AIADMK and TDP MPs are protesting inside Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha every day. They don colourful dresses and hold posters listing their demands. As they have decided to continue their protest in the whole Budget session, they do not take the posters to their official bungalows. Rather they have found a place inside the lobby where no person, other than MPs, is allowed. After the adjournment of the House for the day, both the parties keep their things on top of a corridor inside the lobby. Both the Rajya Sabha Chairman and the Lok Sabha Speaker were upset after learning this on Wednesday.
SUSPENDED BJD MP LOSES SEAT IN HOUSE
Odisha chief minister Nabin Pattanayk has written to the Lok Sabha Speaker to remove Jay Panda from the Standing Committee of the ministry of home affairs and also asked for a change in his sitting arrangement inside the House. Last month, Mr Panda was suspended from the BJD. Now it’s official that he is no more an MP. He is supposed to sit in the last bench of the House. Thanks to his close ties with the ruling BJP party, he might get a prestigious seat in the treasury bench.