Change of guard at Centre reflects in Lok Sabha too

NEW DELHI: The reversal of political fortunes was reflected in the seating arrangements in the Lok Sabha with the treasury and Opposition benches looking transformed from 10 years ago.

Pro tem Speaker Kamal Nath, who will have the unique distinction of being the only sworn-in member of this Lok Sabha for 24 hours looked on a House where his party, Congress, moved far left to the opposition benches, and BJP moved far right to the treasury benches.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi now occupies the space where his predecessor Manmohan Singh used to sit. Next to him, NDA acting chairperson LK Advani took his place. Under the UPA, first Pranab Mukherjee and later Sushil Kumar Shinde were the Leaders of the House, and therefore took that spot. Manmohan Singh as a Rajya Sabha member could not have taken that position.

In Modi, this dichotomy has been erased, therefore the alliance leader, that is, LK Advani sits right next to him, whereas Sonia Gandhi, UPA chairperson was the third person on the first row of the treasury bench.

Congress Will Be an Effective Opposition: Kamal Nath

NEW DELHI: Kamal Nath on Wednesday said that Congress would be a "constructive Opposition". The nine-term MP from Chhindwara told reporters: "The BJP created ruckus and did riot in the last five years, but we will not allow this…Congress will be an effective Opposition even if there are only 44 MPs."