The pun on the word ‘hand’ (Congress party’s election symbol) by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, while signing off his interim Budget speech set the tone in Lok Sabha on Monday.

“…. I am sure, the people of India will entrust the responsibility to a hand that will hold the “sceptre with swayed equity”, he said, quoting sage Tiruvalluvar, Vel Anru Venri Tharuvathu Mannavan Koladhoong Kodadhenin . (Not the spear but the sceptre swayed with equity alone gives the ruler victory.)

In his parting speech ahead of the general elections, the Finance Minister also took a dig at BJP and Aam Aadmi Party. “Neither populism nor majoritarianism nor individualism is an alternative way of governance,” he said. Interestingly, he left out “dynasty’ from his formulation. Incidentally, all through Chidambaram’s speech, it was Congress MPs from Andhra Pradesh, including some Central Ministers, who kept standing in the Well of the House, raising slogans for a “United Andhra”. Lashing out at the Congress for blaming others for disruption, Leader of the Opposition and senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj questioned UPA’s governance in ensuring a conducive atmosphere in Lok Sabha for discussions on important matters, such as the Rail budget.

Telangana issue

Despite suspension of some Andhra MPs last week, the Telangana issue hung over the Lok Sabha.

CPI(M)’s Basudeb Acharia began by demanding a discussion on the manner in which the Telangana Bill was “introduced” under Rule 376. Later, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath told reporters that Bill would be discussed on Tuesday. Attendance in the visitor’s gallery was thin, presumably due to the high security drill following the pepper spray incident by Congress MP, L Rajagopal. However, Rajya Sabha MPs Derek O’Brien of TMC and Tarun Vijay of BJP were spotted in the visitor’s gallery. At the end of the day, Chidambaram’s opening remarks on the budget that “some things remain the same” rang true for the disruptions as well. For, the 15{+t}{+h} Lok Sabha may go down in history as having lost the maximum number of hours due to disruptions in the past 25 years!

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