The Hindu : Front Page : Suspense, excitement and drama … it was all there

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Wednesday, Jul 23, 2008
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Front Page

Suspense, excitement and drama … it was all there

New Delhi Bureau

Minutes after the Speaker called for division of votes, the electronic board flashed the results: 253 for, 232 against and 2 abstentions. This made for a total of 487 MPs, 54 short of the House strength of 541. Where were the missing MPs? As many as 50 MPs preferred to vote conventionally by signing on pre-assigned slips, which meant that these had to be counted individually.

For four BJP MPs, including Atal Bihari Vajpayee, special voting arrangements had been made in the lobby. Mr. Vajpayee, who was a doubtful starter owing to his poor health, was persuaded by the BJP to participate in the voting. The other MPs were brought in straight from the hospital. Speaker Somnath Chatterjee wished Mr. Vajpayee quick recovery and MPs cutting across party lines applauded as he left after voting.

* * *

Suspense hung heavily in the air, with the final counting of votes taking an extraordinarily long time. Part of the reason for the delay was the commotion over the decision of TDP MP D.K. Audikesavulu to vote with the government. The TDP MP did not press the button, and was handed the slip. Unsure of how to use the slip, he turned to AIMIM MP from Hyderabad, Asaduddin Owaisi (who voted for the government), for help. This brought TDP leader K. Yerran Naidu running to the scene. According to Mr. Owaisi, Mr. Audikesavalu was held back by two other MPs while Mr. Naidu tried to overwrite on the slip, in the process cancelling Mr. Audikesavalu’s ‘yes’ vote. Matters reached a head with Renuka Chowdhury joining in the fight. The crisis was resolved after Mr. Audikesavulu reported the matter to the Speaker and had his way; the government got his vote.

* * *

Jubilant Congress MPs could not wait to congratulate Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Barely did the electronic board spring to life than they rushed to Dr. Singh’s side. He accepted the congratulations reluctantly, as the final word from the Speaker had not yet come. The premature celebrations are said to have further delayed the counting.

* * *

The Congress party’s new aggression was evident in a string of posters that sprang up around its headquarters on 24 Akbar Road. Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi get equal billing in the posters. One among them read: “Faisla aap ka; hum kehte hain, bijli badao, pragati lao, who kehte hain, sarkar girao, satta pao. (You decide: We say augment power and usher in development; they say bring down the government and seize office.).” A second said, “Desh ke hit ke liye, satta evam sarkar ki parvah na kiye bagair, parmanu samjhaute ko aage badathe huye, desh me bijli ki sankat ko door karne ke liye, Sonia Gandhi aur Manmohan Singh ke is sahasik kadam ko ham salaam karte hain (We salute Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh for placing national interest above office and pursuing the nuclear deal).”

* * *

Three Congress and one BJP Chief Ministers watched the proceedings from the Speaker’s Gallery — the Congress’ Vilasrao Deshmukh, Bhupinder Hooda and Y.S. Rajashekhara Reddy, and the BJP’s Vasundhara Raje. BJP Chief Minister Raman Singh was in the Distinguished Visitors’ Gallery. Priyanka Vadra, turned out in trendy western wear, and husband Robert came in to watch Rahul Gandhi speak, and returned again to partake of the excitement of the trust vote, Also spotted were the Prime Minister’s two daughters and a grandson. Rahul Gandhi, who spoke in two instalments, thanks to interruptions, rushed up to meet his sister after he delivered his speech, but by then she had left.

* * *

A couple of hours before the trust vote, a stunned House watched as three BJP MPs opened two bags of Rs. 1000 currency on the parliamentary reporters’ table. However, this came as no surprise to some journalists who seemed to know everything there was to know about the sting operation. Some of them sat in the TDP’s parliamentary party office, discussing the coming “surprise” with Chandrababu Naidu and other journalists.

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