votes notes-1

A freak sporting accident (fine I will be honest –I twisted an ankle on my second day of jogging) resulted in my actually being able to watch the “historic” confidence vote in Parliament. So I shall try to address on my own mourns yesterday attempt some live (well..almost) blogging. Most of the observations were noted/scribbled while watching the debate although the matter for the post itself was recorded during the Lunch break. The post-lunch session is in the next post.

P.Chidambaram speaking... He seems very subdued relying mainly on facts while defending the performance of the government, especially in the field of agriculture. His take on the nuclear deal is from a classic legal perspective trying to bring out the finer points of various aspects of 123, the Hyde Act and Vienna Convention on treaties
He seems to be targeting the NDA so far rather than the Left.

Ooops he uttered the C-word and the Left is up in arms! This strategy always seems to work, mention China and all comrades go red in the face. A lot of mallu MPs including N.N.Krishnadasfrom my district) rising and shouting. The prize however goes to P.Salim who is in full flow. I am pretty curious about Mr.Salim since I haven’t heard much of him. He was the first speaker for the CPI(M) to yesterday. Mr. Chidambaram ends with a exploration of the contradictions between the Left and the NDA

Speaker Somnath Chatterjee seems to be on a roll. After all those issues with his party, he seems to have acquired a greater aura and is on the way to becoming a new media icon.. His conduct of the house seems almost similar to that of a school teacher. How else would you explain-“Silence in the House!!”

Vijay Kumar Malhotra of the BJP seems to have taken up the role of the chief attack dog of the BJP since L.K.Advani has become Prime-Minister-in Waiting and by default elder-statesman. He is bringing in all the dirty linen. Nuclear energy won’t be very useful, it is mainly a corporate ploy, even criminals are being brought into parliament….wow even the speaker got angry on that one…the opposition is getting more agitated……and the house is adjourned. sigh!

Somnath Chatterjee delivers an impassioned request for order and a clear expression of disgust….and then goes on to say “…Power is not everything”!!??

Mr.Malhotra continues. He seems to be on course to taking up all his party’s time. He quotes Mani Shankar Aiyyar declaring in “The Devil’s Advocate” that the UPA needs a course correction. Aiyyar rises to clarify. Why would anything said in that show be considered as a valid statement in the first place..it's like a stress interview anyway. Why isn’t MS Aiyyar one of the speakers? He would really have risen to the occasion.

Sonia Gandhi seems to have a blinking disorder. She blinks furiously every time the camera is focused on her.

Aha! Amarnath has been introduced..and soon is followed by its conjoint twin for the BJP-the Haj subsidies. Renuka Chowdury and an NDA MP are engaging in shout-match where the latter’s sole response seems to be “Hindu hain to zameen lotao”.
Malhotra levels accusations of softness on terrorism, a demand for the return of POTA .Boy! I really hope there are no elections. Malhotra has exceeded his time limit but goes on.
He concludes by calling the Government Dusshasan! ;)

Rahul Gandhi has been called….
This guy is going to get a full post. He is phenomenally bad. The response he is getting seems to be mainly snide remarks.
A huge uproar suddenly..no clue as to what is happening. At least Rahul is not saying anything offensive. A lot of BSP MPs waving documents and the session has been adjourned for lunch with Rahul Gandhi’s speech still incomplete.