'It's public lynching, not mob lynching' and other sidelights from Parliament on Day 3
Seasonal friendships
Union minister Giriraj Singh took a dig at the increasing bonhomie between RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and BSP supremo Mayawati. Singh said, "Laluji is vyakul (desperate) these days. He is ready to do anything. But these warm, cold, rainy, stormy equations are all part of alliance politics. This is mausami ghathbandhan (seasonal friendship) and these equations keep changing."
The minister's comments came in the wake of Lalu Yadav's support to Mayawati, who resigned from Rajya Sabha yesterday (July 18) for not being "allowed to speak on Dalit atrocities". Yadav has offered to send her to the upper house from Bihar.
Will she, won't she?
This was the million-dollar question that kept BSP MPs wondering. Mayawati didn't turn up in the Upper House on Wednesday (July 19) despite the fact that "mob lynchings and Dalit atrocities issue" was listed for discussion in Rajya Sabha.
While leader of Opposition, Ghulam Nabi Azad, reached out to Mayawati and appealed for her return (to the House) to take part in the "mob lynching" debate, BSP MP Satish Misra said she is "ready to give her resignation in any format".
Earlier, after Mayawati resigned from the Upper House, it was reported that her resignation was likely to be was rejected on technical grounds. The matter is pending with the chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
'Proverbial moment'
Apart from the ruckus created over Samajvadi Party MP Naresh Agarwal's comments on god and alcohol, the discussion on mob lynching issue had its "proverbial moment", literally. While Agarwal said, "Goa CM Manohar Parrikar's statement is like muh mein Ram bagal mein churi", while referring to the Central government's stand on the lynching incidents, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, "Mungerilal ke haseen sapne" (both leaders cited famous Hindi proverbs).
Mob lynching versus public lynching
Congress MP Kapil Sibal, who is a noted lawyer, was seen trying to explain why the lynching incidents are "technically public lynchings and not mob lynchings". The former Union minister explained the difference between the two at length. "Public lynching is organised and planned, whereas mob lynching is not," he told a gathering of leaders and journalists.
All in the farmer's name
From protesting inside the House to raising the issue of farmers' distress outside Parliament, the Congress did everything "possible" to send the message loud and clear — "the party's fight with the government is on as far as the farmers issue is concerned".
On Day 3 of monsoon session of Parliament, Congress MPs staged protests inside the House and walked out from the Lok Sabha. While Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi rushed to Banswara, Rajasthan, to address a "Kisan Akrosh" rally, inside the Lok Sabha, it was Guna MP Jyotiraditya Scindia, who led the attack against the government.
Congress has "promised" to build enough pressure to ensure that the Centre as well as states announce farm loan waivers and good MSPs for crops.
Also read: Expect thunder and storm this monsoon session of Parliament