Bonhomie in Parliament; Modi, Rahul shake hands

New Delhi: It was a rare sight of bonhomie in the central hall of Parliament on Monday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi affably greeted his political adversary and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi by warmly grabbing his hand.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi, sitting in the front row between L.K. Advani and former PM H.D. Deve Gowda, was seen intermittently chatting with the BJP veteran all through President Pranab Mukherjee’s speech to the joint sitting of both the Houses of the Parliament.

As all political rivals — Left, Right and Centre — mingled freely after the recent campaign hostilities, the exchange of greetings between the Prime Minister and the Congress vice-president caught the attention of everybody.

Mr Modi was seen warmly grabbing Mr Gandhi’s hand, who was seated in the eighth row along with senior Congress leaders Motilal Vora and Jairam Ramesh.

As soon as Mr Modi, dressed in his usual half kurta and jacket, came close to the young Congress leader, he held his hand bringing an instant smile on Mr Gandhi’s face.

Mr Modi, as the PM candidate of the BJP, had frequently attacked the young leader mocking him as “shehzada” and targeting the Gandhi family during campaigning.

Before the President’s address began, Mrs Gandhi was seen engaged in prolonged chat with Mr Advani sitting next to her in the packed Central Hall.

A number of MPs, including Chandan Mitra, Babul Supriyo, Rajyavardhan Rathore and Manoj Tewari, who could not find a seat, kept standing during the President’s nearly hour-long speech.

The Congress president was seen greeting with thumping of desk as the President outlined the government’s commitment of zero tolerance to violence against women and its promise to provide 33 per cent reservation for them in Parliament and state Assemblies.

Former PM Manmohan Singh and Mr Advani also welcomed it by thumping the desk.

Dr Singh was seated with Mr Modi and finance minister Arun Jaitley in one of the first rows.