Rama Krishna Sangem
If there is one Congress MP who attracted the attention of all during the just concluded winter session of Parliament from December 1 to 19, it is first timer Priyanka Gandhi. It appeared as if she is the deputy leader or leader of Congress in Lok Sabha. Her performance within and outside the House drew focus of even the ruling party benches. At 54 years (born Jan 12, 1972), she comes under the youth quota of Congress parliamentarians.
On December 19 when Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla hosted a tea party to all sides in his chambers, Priyanka was sat close to PM Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. This honour she got in view of the Congress numbers in the LS. But, the way Modi engaged in conversation with her indicates the importance Priyank earned.
One of her interventions in the House, Priyanka told the PM that, “Sir, you are of 12 years senior in the House, but I am just of 12 months, please let us stop talking about the mistakes of Nehru, Indira and Rajiv. If you want, we can have a full-fledged discussion on their mistakes. But, after that let\s have a debate on unemployment and price rise”.
So far no Congress member could take on the ruling BJP on this topic so effectively. Priyanka’s style and substance are cooler. She proved to be effective communicator. She spoke directly looking into faces of the ruling party members, ministers and even the PM. Occasionally, she smiled at them, taunted at them.
Most agreed on Priyanka Gandhi being the star of the opposition camp during the winter session, but some even described her the star of the entire winter session. This is no exaggeration if we consider her performance during discussion on VB G RAM G bill. The way she defended the name of Mahatma Gandhi won her appreciation from the entire opposition benches. She said, Mahatma Gandhi is member of every household in the country, resonating the spirit of general mood of people.
Outside the House too
Even outside the House too, Priyanka spoke to the media regularly. She never shied away the media or dismissed them just like, which most opposition MPs do. She patiently replied to every of queries from the media. In fact this is a secret most opposition leader miss out. They get more attention outside the House, on the premises of parliament.
Look at senior former minister Renuka Chowdary who brought a pet with her inside the parliam3ent complex and when not allowed, her rude repli9es landed her in awkward situation. Priyanka was always dignified and up to the point in her speeches and interventions. It appears, she has better prospects as a parliamentarian.
She got opportunities to speak in the House, in the absence of Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi. Whether or he deliberately gave her the chance we don\t know, but she fully made use of the opportunity. Good show for a 12 month old LS MP.