Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, who came to Lok Sabha much ahead of 11 am, when the House starts its proceedings, had something interesting to show her bench-mates. She took out her phone and was seen showing a black and white picture to fellow MPs T R Baalu (DMK) and Farooq Abdullah (NC). More than both of them, however, Sonia’s excitement got the attention of Dayanidhi Maran (DMK), who was standing behind. Maran wanted the senior Congress leader to send him the picture. Sonia gave the phone to NCP MP Supriya Sule to have the image sent to Maran. Sule, however, could not — apparently due to poor connectivity inside the House. She got Maran’s phone and took screenshots of the picture from Sonia’s phone. She clicked one photo on her phone, too.
Chair Umpire
Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien had a lesson for the young research associates on empowerment. Ahead of the party’s press conference at the Constitution Club on Thursday, O’Brien wanted some of the chairs lying in the hall to be removed. When he asked the women research associates to get them away, they said they had asked someone to remove them. But the MP asked them, “Why don’t you remove them yourself? Get your hands dirty…. You don’t need men to do this.” The women immediately got the message and got to work.
Cultural Evolution
Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Secunderabad in Telangana, has written to Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao to provide land to the Union ministry to set up a dedicated regional centre of the Sangeet Natak Akademi. The Akademi will specifically promote Telangana’s rich cultural heritage of music, folk and tribal arts, Reddy stated and asked the Chief Minister to “identify and allot a suitable plot of 10 acres in the heart of Hyderabad”.
