The Central Hall of Parliament was a full house on Tuesday, the first day of the Monsoon session. When MPs assemble from all over the states, there is always a lot of hugging and handshaking. Members of Parliament of various political parties were seen chatting and creating plenty of noise with their chatter.
And why not? After all, the Central Hall is the political hub of New Delhi - and so, by correlation, the whole country. As Tuesday was also the day to file nominations for the Vice President, PM Modi was crossing the Central Hall from the Lok Sabha to the Rajya Sabha Chambers number 74, where Venkaiah Naidu filed his nomination.
Soon, Venkaiah Naidu also followed the PM in the Central Hall. Naidu met almost all the MPs from all the benches and went to each seat.
The PM, on the other hand, spent a few seconds with the BS Yeddyurappa and shook hands, whereas to the rest, he simply waved. He also walked across with folded hands, saying 'Namaste' to each of them, who stood in respect for Modi.
It wasn't all politics though. "Thank you, President Pranab Mukherjee" also rang out. A greeting card is being signed by all Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs. This farewell card will be handed over to the President on July 23, evening when Pranab da visits Central Hall to accept the farewell by Members of Parliament.
A special desk is now being set up in Central Hall and is coordinated by a senior official of the Union Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs to ensure that each of the MPs signs the card. Another eye-catching sight was Leader of Opposition Mallikarjuna Kharge, who entered the Lok Sabha, and later the Central Hall, with a walking stick.
Kharge got special permission from Speaker of Lok Sabha and also to enter Parliament as usually things like a walking stick is not permitted inside the Lok Sabha chambers. Kharge, who had undergone knee surgery, was walking very slowly, but in his witty style he declared that others have to wait as he is a 'weighty personality'.
But he was one of the few Congress MPs to retain their sense of humour. The very few of the remaining who were seen had no enthusiasm in their faces. They sat in a corner - and did not join other party MPs for a chat.
Meanwhile, NCP leader Sharad Pawar was seen talking very intimately with Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut. Both were spotted speaking in Marathi - focused on Gopalkrishna Gandhi.
Turning towards the South, AIADMK MPs - belonging to both EPS and OPS factions - seem to mingle very easily in the neutral ground of the Central Hall. The future of Tamil Nadu's politics was naturally the only topic.
Karnataka's MPs had a little protest organised. A corner of the Central Hall was packed with banners saying 'Ban PFI, KFD and save Karnataka' or 'Refer political murder cases to NIA'. Most of the Karnataka MPs took one each before they went into Lok Sabha.
On a side note, the Central Hall has a special enclosure for those Members of Parliament who smoke. On Tuesday this corner room was overflowing with smoke.
Incidentally, many of the MPs are chain smokers. Among the notables spotted were Sitaram Yechury (CPM), Civil Aviation Minister Gajapati Raju, TK Rangarajan (CPM) and Sugata Roy (Trinamool Congress).
