New Delhi: The first day of winter session of Parliament started on a mixed note with some sharp barbs, giggling and smiles during the debate on Indian Constitution, yesterday.
But the day was seized by a jubilant but aggressive Sonia Gandhi who attacked BJP in veiled references and shrugged off booing with smiles and giggles. This was first time Mrs Gandhi, who mostly wears a sombre face in public, was seen smiling and laughing on national television.
Using Ambedkar's words, Sonia claimed legacy of Congress and praised the party for the contribution in drafting the Constitution.
She told the house that Ambedkar had said at that time "I was surprised when I was chosen as the chairman. There were more learned and better people than me in the Committee. It was the discipline of the Congress party that enabled the Drafting Committee to give full information about every Act in the Constitution".
This reference was met with strong and loud hooting from treasury benches but she just giggled like a child and prompted other members of the house to respond in the same manner. Even at a point of time she was briefly seen sticking her tongue out, just a like a kid who has committed an error.
The Congress president even tried to hide her smiling radiant face with the piece of paper having her speech.
Even the always so serious looking leaders like Rajnath Singh, Venkaih Naidu, Jitendra Singh and Rajiv Pratap Rudy were seen smiling.
Her political bete noire Prime Minister Narendra Modi could even not hold back his smile.
She laid claim of Congress party in drafting the Constitution by using the words of Baba Ambedkar himself. It was obvious for NDA lawmakers to object but she jousted it off by laughing and saying, “Ye history hai, itihas hai. Kya? Kuch apatti hai? (This is history. What? Is there any objection?)”.
Her response and giggling brought an atmosphere of smiles and laughs inside the Lok Sabha, usually a battleground between the opposition and ruling party.
Speaker Sumitra Mahajan was also caught on camera laughing her heart out and told Mrs Gandhi that except her no one's comment will go in the official records.
