NEW DELHI: Members of the upper house of Indian parliament (Rajya Sabha) came dressed in spotless white “Dhoti Kurtas” neatly ironed closed neck suits and some others in attractive shawls as color cameras of national TV, Doordarshan, whirred amidst blazing lights for a second trial run to televise the question hour proceedings of the house on Friday.
The front row occupants in treasury benches, including ministers, were sporting closed neck suits, as also opposition leaders, and some others in three piece suits.
The Rajya Sabha question hour proceedings go on the air on the morning transmission of Doordarshan on Monday.
A lady member Jayanthi Natarajan of Congress I was seen in a colorful “Kancheevaram” silk saree with a shawl to match and lawyer politician MC Bhandare in fawn colored coat with an attractive flowing shawl draped over it,.
A Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) member was wrapped in a flaming red shawl.
There were moments of mirth as the lights were switched off after question hour.
When M M Jacob, minister of state for home, rose to speak, deputy chairman Dr. Najma Heptullah remarked, “the lights went off when you stood up”, . When Heptullah took the chair, some members said they could not see her as the lights were too bright. She said “you may not see me but I can see you”.
The Congress (I) member, A G Kulkami also complained to chairman Dr. S D Sharma that the glare of the are lights were affecting his eyes and something must be done to minimize their ill effort.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 13, 1991
