Central Hall Tales: Nawaz Sharif and why are Congress MPs worried about Rahul?

The disqualification of Nawaz Sharif as Pakistan’s  Prime Minister was the main topic in the Central Hall the Parliament. BJP MPs were largely in attendance, they were of course rejoicing but were concerned with the Pakistan Army further getting the upper hand. The second hot topic was Nitish Kumar winning the vote of confidence. Many BJP and JDU MPs wanted to know JDU leader Sharad Yadav’s reaction to the developments.  

The Central Hall, however, saw a reduced attendance of MPs on Friday, as many of the Congress MPs were disgruntled with the 'bad news' of many MLAs resigning from Congress in Gujarat. Congress MPs were worried about how  Ahmed Patel,  Congress’ contender for Rajya Sabha from Gujarat might be defeated with this reduction in strength. Today being Friday, many of the MPs were also in the New Delhi Palam Airport returning home for the weekend. Moreover, on Fridays, the Parliament  deliberates on private members bills. If the MPs names figure in the agenda papers and if their private  bill is introduced they will be present in the House, otherwise, many leave Delhi.

Here’s what this correspondent picked up on Friday, among other news:

M Venkaiah Naidu is sulking. He is seemingly not too happy with the upgradation to the Chairman of Rajya Sabha, that is as Vice President. Many Andhra Pradesh MPs in private conversations have been heard talking about this. The reasons, however, cannot be discerned at this point.

Among others, Sharad Yadav was seen being cajoled and comforted by BJP Bihar MPs.It is now almost certain that Sharad Yadav will be inducted as Union Minister in the ensuing expansion.

Congress MPs were also heard commenting on Rahul Gandhi’s statement that he knew about Nitish Kumar ploy of deserting  the Mahagathbandhan. In private, Congress MPs are worried about Rahul Gandhi versus Narendra Modi. The friends of the  former Chief Minister of Maharashtra Prithviraj Chavan were heard saying  that Congress does not have a tall leader who can take on Narendra Modi and this is, in other words, no confidence in Rahul’s leadership.

Biju Janata Dal MP Bhartruhari Mahtab is another hero in the Central Hall. He raised the issue of Bofors scam and based on technicalities, Mahtab established that the Bofors files were not shown to the Public Accounts Committee. Officials confirmed that those files were missing and Mahtab created a furore in the PAC meeting.

Sitaram Yechuri, CPM General Secretary, was denied a third term to Rajya Sabha from West Bengal. Kerala CPM MPs who are in good books of Prakash Karat were joyful. They were murmuring that it was CPM, under the leadership of  Prakash Karat, who withdrew support to the UPA - but Sitaram Yechuri being a hardcore comrade is 'licking" the feet of  the Congress, to get third term in Rajya Sabha.

There is more to this episode: What’s interesting is that West Bengal CPM MPs were teasing Prakash Karat as "LBW" and  when this correspondent asked to expand the alphabets LBW, one West Bengal MP jokingly stated -  Leather Bag and Water Bottle Prakash Karat. He does not bother to spend time beyond 5.30pm in the CPM Party office.

Jairam Ramesh walked upto E.M. Sudarsana Natchiappan, the former MP and congratulated him in advance. It is believed that Rahul Gandhi has cleared the appointment of EMS Natchiappan as President of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee in the place of Su. Thirunavukkarasar. On hearing this buzz many Congress MPs from Kerala went to greet Natchiappan.Reason being that  Natchiappan is the AICC observer for Kerala. Hence, many MPs want to keep  Natchiappan in good humour. Jairam Ramesh replying  to Kerala MPs questions, confirmed that Natchiappan will be made TNCC Chief by September.

R Rajagopalan is a senior journalist based in New Delhi. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect those of Asianet Newsable.