Breaking the ice over tea: Congress rejoins House ritual

New Delhi: After the winter session of Parliament adjourned sine die on Friday, the Congress floor leaders advertised a thaw in their relationship with Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha Chairman by joining the customary post-session tea at the respective presiding officers' chambers. The main Opposition had disengaged from this practice in four past sittings, starting monsoon session of 2024, alleging unfair treatment from the respective Chair in the Houses. Congress sources said while they were against the way the Government passed BIlls, especially one to scrap MGNREGA, they still rejoined the customary team because "Speaker and Chairman were "a bit fair in this session".

At Speaker Om Birla's chamber, ruling side representatives, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Ministers K Ram Mohan Naidu, Rajiv Ranjan Singh 'Lalan', Chirag Paswan and Pralhand Joshi were joined by Opposition representatives Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Kumari Selja, Manickam Tagore and Mohd Jawed (Congress) and some other opposition MPs. At the chamber of RS Chairman CP Radhakrishnan's, LoP Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Digvijaya Singh and Jairam Ramesh joined the customary tea.

In their chat over tea, sources said, some queried about the Prime Minister's impression about Ethiopia, and Modi is learnt to have talked about the infrastructure development he noticed in Addis Ababa. Some participants said Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also talked about the health values of the blue turmeric available in Wayanad. Sources said Kumari Selja used the occasion to gently urge the Prime Minister and Speaker to create a Central Hall in the New Parliament House too. Dharmendra Yadav (SP) spoke about the desirability of having longer Parliament sessions.