Different strokes

While replying during the Budget debate in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was looking angry. This prompted BJP chief whip Surinder Singh Ahluwalia to stand up and intervene. Though Mukherjee doesn’t like any interventions while speaking, he likes Ahluwalia and so asked softly, “Are you saying anything, Surinder?” Ahluwalia replied in Bengali, “Dada, why are you getting angry? Why don’t you smile while you reply to this debate?” Soon, another BJP MP, Bhagat Singh Koshyari from Himachal Pradesh, decided to try his luck and wanted to intervene. This time, Mukherjee was not so generous and said, “I will not yield to anyone in this House. If the Leader of Opposition (Arun Jaitley) wants to intervene, of course, I would listen to him but not you.”