The “cheerleaders” have now come to the Lok Sabha? No, they are not the scantily clad performers of the IPL matches to cheer the cricket buffs, but members of parliament .
NEW DELHI: The “cheerleaders” have now come to the Lok Sabha? No, they are not the scantily clad performers of the IPL matches to cheer the cricket buffs, but members of parliament .
An exasperated speaker Somnath Chatterjee was on Monday forced to compare a bunch of slogan-shouting MPs in the well of the House to the much maligned “cheerleaders”, when his repeated pleas to allow him transact business fell on deaf ears.
“We are concerned about cheerleaders in some cricket match. What will happen to the cheerleaders here?” Chatterjee asked. A little later, as the slogan-shouting reached a crescendo, the speaker said “write down the names of cheerleaders.”
As a dozen MPs from the NDA benches continued to disrupt the proceedings demanding resignation of shipping minister TR Baalu, the speaker reminded them that they are paid Rs1,000 per day allowance and they are not doing justice to their job.
“This culture has to go from parliament of India that anybody can come to the well, stop proceedings and get newspaper publicity. You do not bother about it. That is why, I say: no work, no pay. Please agree to this. We have to agree to this, no work, no pay.”
The speaker had a few months ago mooted the idea of cutting the daily allowance of MPs who rushed to the well and disrupted the proceedings, but the political class did not endorse it. As the bedlam continued for about 40 minutes, to add to the chaos, power went off and the speaker said “out of shame I have done it.”
Though the speaker said this jest, Doordarshan technicians took it as order and the cameras were switched off. However, they soon realised the mistake and restored the live telecast.
k_benedict@dnaindia.net
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