A brief spell of rain on Monday afternoon caught some MPs unawares on the Parliament complex. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, MPs Zia ur Rehman Barq, Dharmendra Yadav, Anand Bhadauria and Aditya Yadav managed to borrow a few umbrellas from the security personnel on duty and shared them. Leading the group of MPs exiting the premises under black umbrellas, Akhilesh remarked jokingly, “What can be expected from a government which cannot protect its MPs from rain inside Parliament complex”.
Mic Drop
One of the many complaints of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, “mic off” presented a perfect comeback opportunity to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday. Responding to a question by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor over pending litigations under Companies Law, the minister said the BJP government had taken seven steps for the ease of doing business.
To this, Tharoor said the minister had given a “laundry list” even though the ministry had done nothing to address the staffing challenges at the National Company Law Tribunal, especially the one for the southern states in Chennai. As the minister was replying again, her mic malfunctioned, prompting her to say, “see, it’s not only the Opposition’s mic that goes off. Even mine is off…if it satisfies you”, triggering laughter on both sides.
Balancing Act
A war of words has erupted between two Andhra Pradesh parties —YSRCP and TDP — over special category status for the state, a demand common to both. The YSRCP, which lost to the TDP in the recent Assembly elections, has continued to raise the demand with the Centre, but the TDP, which is now a part of the NDA-led Union government, is saying it would rather lobby to get special packages, as mentioned in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.
TDP sources said the party would like to go easy on the special category demand for now because if it pushes for it, another NDA ally, JD(U), will also seek the same for Bihar, resulting in a tug-of-war within the alliance.
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