Banter, back-slapping

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JULY 23. The bitterness and acrimony that marked the budget session appeared to have been forgotten on the first day of the monsoon session today as the Lok Sabha reassembled after a break of over two months. Light-hearted teasing and back-slapping replaced the acrimony.

The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, arrived 10 minutes ahead of schedule with a broad grin, escorted by a handful of BJP MPs. He went around exchanging pleasantries with the leaders of the Opposition. He clasped the outstretched hand of the CPI(M) leader, Mr. Somnath Chatterjee, shook it vigorously and asked ``Dada, how are you?'' He also shared some light-hearted banter with the Congress benches and laughed when Mr. Santosh Mohan Deb cracked a joke on the Agra summit.

The two Ajits, Mr. Ajit Singh, Minister for Agriculture, and Mr. Ajit Panja, Trinamool Congress rebel, had to put up with some teasing. The Left MPs pulled Mr. Panja's leg asking him where he would sit. As Mr. Panja walked to his seat on the Trinamool benches the Left MPs said ``watch out, there is an ejector beneath it.'' Mr. Panja, not one to allow the Communists to have the last word, today enjoyed the joke. Mr. Ajit Singh did his best to make himself as inconspicuous as possible and sat quietly on the Treasury benches. However, when Mr. Vajpayee introduced him as a new Minister in his Cabinet, the Samajwadi MPs had a go - ``he is a Minister in every Cabinet'' said one of them amid peels of laughter from the Opposition benches.

The ruling and the Opposition MPs also poked fun at the Enviorment Minister, Mr. T. R. Baalu, who was at the receiving end of the Tamil Nadu Government's ``high-handedness'' recently. While his Ministerial colleagues enquired about his well-being, the Opposition was out to have fun at his expense. Again, it was the veteran CPI(M) leader, Mr. Somnath Chatterjee, who started the banter. Spotting Mr. Baalu he enquired loudly ``are you all right, is everything in place?'' Mr. Baalu then walked across as members of the Left, the Congress and the SP shook his hand.

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