Rajya Sabha starts on a light mood with best parliamentarians in House

For a change, there were no frowns and shouting as the day began in the Rajya Sabha and the Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu began the proceedings on a pleasant note to congratulate the five MPs, including two from the Upper House, for being chosen as the best parliamentarians.

President Ram Nath Kovind had conferred the awards to the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and former Member and Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha Dr Najma A Heptulla along with Hukmdev Narayan Yadav, Dinesh Trivedi and Bhartruhari Mahtab members of the Lok Sabha in the central hall on Wednesday.

Congratulating the MPs, Naidu said, "This House has been witness to the political and administrative acumen, deep insight into various social issues, command over the rules and procedure of the House and simple but effective way of oratory of Ghulam Nabi Azad and Dr Najma A Heptulla. It is indeed a matter of great pride for this House that one sitting member and one former member have been conferred with this prestigious award."

Several members, including from the BJP and other parties, rose to associate their names to the congratulatory message read by Naidu.

Azad was all smiles when Naidu described his persona as something that lends weight to his present role in the august House as the Leader of the Opposition.

"Shri Azad, as Leader of the Opposition, has been a great source of support to me in resolving many difficult situations," Naidu said.