He has done it on three occasions in the past. But for many young Indians it was an unfamiliar sight to watch stand-in finance minister Pranab Mukherjee arrive in a steel grey bandhgala with the most important document of the day in a leather briefcase.
Unlike his predecessor P Chidambaram who generally smiled profusely for the shutterbugs on Budget day, Mukherjee seemed to have rationed his cheer as he posed for the cameras. It was, perhaps, an indication of things to come. An interim budget is usually a staid affair. This year, it was almost grim as the finance minister reeled out tomes of facts and figures. There were no wisecracks, no hint of humour. Senior BJP leader L K Advani was among the handful of politicians diligently noting down points from the speech.
The House only stirred when Veerendra Kumar, the 71-yearold JD(S) MP from Kozhikode, took ill after about 45 minutes of the 65-minute-plus speech. When Speaker Somnath Chatterjee adjourned the House for 10 minutes, railway minister Lalu Yadav was one of the first to head out for a break.
On the brighter side, Rahul Gandhi looked dapper in a black jacket over a white kurta-pyjama. Actress Jaya Prada, the Samajwadi Party MP from Rampur, made a pretty picture in a rust churidar-kurta and chiffon dupatta. But then she swished in at 12.15pm, barely three minutes before Mukherjee ended his speech.
Jyotiraditya Scindia made a just-in-time appearance before the speech began, in his trademark blue kurta-white churidar, and a black woven jacket. He turned around for the swarming camerapersons, flashing a smile with his shades on. Navjot Singh Sidhu dutifully obliged the shutterbugs, bright and chirpy in an orange turban and matching tie with little animal prints. Jairam Ramesh walked in well after the Budget started, his longish hair blown back by a strong breeze.
The young Scindia was also the first to move out, and be swarmed by the media. As he spoke, Sharad Yadav emerged but obligingly hovered around for media attention, although his car waited in the portico. Sharad Pawar tried to avoid the media completely, gesturing with his driver for the smoothest exit point where he could quickly get into his car. But amusing was SP MP from Firozabad, Ramjilal Suman. As a cameraman called out to him, the poor guy desperately looked around for a spittoon, but didn’t find one.
Security was tight but not overbearing. Sniffer dogs and personnel went around the sprawling estate, the dogs nosing their way through the tangerines, the flowers, the food stuff, the budget papers in dark green rucksacks, anything worth an investigative sniff.
Many women MPs were dressed in splendid saris from every corner of India — tussars, kanjivarams, gadwals, kanthas. They showed no matter how lacklustre the interim budget may have been, Parliamentarians were putting their brightest foot forward.
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