PM Narendra Modi, Congress President Sonia Gandhi exchange pleasantries

New Delhi: The first day of the 16th Lok Sabha was adjourned without transacting any business after paying homage to Union minister Gopinath Munde. Members of the new House would take begin taking their oath from Thursday.

On the very first day itself, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Sonia Gandhi came face-to-face as the Prime Minister was going about greeting everybody seated in the first row after entering the Lower House for the first time.

Those occupying the front benches on the Opposition side included Leader of the Congress in the House Mallikarjun Kharge, Mrs Gandhi, M. Veerappa Moily and K.H. Muniyappa.

As the day’s proceeding started protem Speaker Kamal Nath condoled the death of Munde, whom he described as a “man of the masses.” The House then observed a few moments of silence in memory of the departed leader.

Thereafter, after taking the concurrence of the House over the issue of oath-taking, the protem Speaker adjourned the House for the day.
The mood in the new Lok Sabha was one of contrast, with the elated BJP having moved to the treasury benches and the sulking Congress to the Opposition side after its disastrous performance at the hustings.

Many members, who are first-timers, especially those from the south, were pretty clueless and appeared pleasantly shocked after entering the House. They were seen wondering at the huge hall and its ambience as they went about greeting each other.

The moment Mr Modi walked in, he was greeted by the thumping of desks by BJP members. Soon after, he went about greeting all those he came across as he took a detour of the Well. It so happened that when he was about to reach the Congress’ bench, Mrs Gandhi too walked into the aisle and they greeted each other warmly. The seat next to Mr Modi was taken by BJP patriarch L.K. Advani.

The dismal performance of the Congress and its effect on the party was palpable on the faces of the grand old party members as they all appeared crestfallen.

When Sonia was about to take her seat, Kharge who has been made the leader of the party on the floor offered his seat to his leader, which she politely refused.

The absence of many stalwarts who were part of the earlier House was obvious with leaders like Gurudas Das Gupta, Basudeb Acharya, Sharad Yadav and Jaswant Singh not seen in the newly constituted Lok Sabha. DMK and BSP, both of which had a sizeable presence in the fifteenth Lok Sabha do not have even a single member this time.