Campaign bitterness forgotten, bonhomie in Upper House

New Delhi, Jun 4 (PTI) An atmosphere of bonhomie
prevailed in the Upper House of Indian Parliament as it began
its new session on Thursday after the general elections saw
the return of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to power.

Forgetting the bitter acrimony during the Indian
elections , members from all political parties exchanged
greetings.

Before taking his seat, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh went straight to senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
leader Arun Jaitley, who has become the Leader of Opposition,
in an apparent gesture to seek the opposition parties' support
for the smooth conduct of the House.

After a warm handshake with Jaitley, who has taken the
place of Jaswant Singh following his election to the Lower
House of the Indain Parlaiment, the Prime Minister exchanged
pleasantries with senior leaders before taking his seat.

The Upper House missed several BJP veterans like Jaswant
Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Murli Manohar Joshi, Yashwant Sinha and
Shatrughan Sinha, all of whom have been elected to the Lower
House.

The Prime Minister, who will be the Leader of the House
in the Upper House, later introduced his Council of Ministers
amid thumping of desks. Loud applause was heard when he
introduced 28-year old Agatha Sangma, the youngest Minister in
the Council.

With almost the entire team of the Prime Minister present
in the House, there was virtually a crisis of seats on the
treasury benches and many of them had to squeeze in.

Some ministers, including Trinamool's Mamata Banerjee and
Dravida Munnetra Kazhgham's (DMK) M K Azhagiri and Dayanidhi
Maran occupied the last row.

Sitaram Yechury, whose Communist Party of India-Marxist
(CPI-M) crossed swords with the Congress-led UPA during the
elections, went to the Prime Minister to exchange greetings.

After a copy of the President's address to the joint
session of Parliament was laid on the table, the House
condoled the deaths of three former members.

95-year Shankarrao Narayanrao Deshmukh, who died in
January this year, represented India's western state of
Maharashtra in the Upper House from 1984 to 1990.

Four-time member Tirath Ram Amla (94), who represented
India's northern state of Jammu and Kashmir in the House, too
died in January this year.

Savita Behen (90), who represented India's central state
Delhi in the Upper House from 1972 to 1978, had worked for the
welfare of women. The noted social worker died in March this
year.

Chairman Hamid Ansari also condoled the death of 125
people in the killer cyclone 'Aila' in India's eastern state
of West Bengal.

Before the House adjourned for the day, Indian Home
Minister P Chidambaram laid copies of a Presidential
proclamation imposing Central rule in India's
north-eastern state of Meghalaya on March 19 and another
revoking it on May 13.

A popular government has since been installed in
Meghalaya which was brought under President's rule following a
political crisis in the North Eastern state.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V
Narayanasamy laid a copy of the Meghalaya vote on account
ordinance promulgated by the President on March 31. PTI SMI
SKT
NNNN