Sushilkumar Shinde plays statesman, showers praise on opposition

NEW DELHI: On the last day of the 15th Lok Sabha, Home Minister and Leader of the House Sushilkumar Shinde today played a statesman as he showered praise on the Opposition and particularly chose BJP leader Sushma Swaraj to hail her party's support to get the crucial Telangana bill passed.

Highlighting the beauty of Indian democracy, he said members from the ruling and the opposition sides might vociferously air their differences over various issues in Parliament but they do not carry those sentiments outside the House.

He said the outgoing Lok Sabha had enacted a number of landmark laws like Lokpal Act, Food Security Act and Land Acquisition Act.

"We took decisions together on a number of subjects that have been pending for long," Shinde said, recalling the achievements of the Lok Sabha.

Referring to the Telangana bill, which was passed by the House earlier this week, he said he was "obliged" to the BJP for its support.

He said he was not sure whether BJP would support the bill but "you did not sit on the prestige that the announcement for creation of the new state had been made by Sonia Gandhi 10 years back and you had also promised it."

Specifically, choosing Swaraj for the eloquent praise, Shinde said "aap ki baat mein mithaas hai, mithai khane se bhi woh mithaas nahi hoti (your tone is very sweet, it is sweeter than the sweets)."