Thus they spoke !

Finally the deal is through. The ayes have won over the naes, money exchanged hands, deals were stuck and the brokers and middle-man had a field day stage managing the whole drama around the Trust vote. For a few days, the TV screens screamed about all the activities in Delhi with the same single minded devotion they displayed during the Abhi-Ash wedding. While bade bhaiyya Amitabh Bachchan is celebrating the success of the ongoing Unforgettable tour, chote bhaiyya Amar Singh is also celebrating the success of all the wheeling-dealing around the unforgettable Trust vote.

Not too many MPs understood what the deal was about in the first place. It was just an opportunity to rake some moolah, strike some deals and making hay while the sun shines. But one of the customary acts surrounding the ‘debate’ was that the MPs had to make speeches and justify their adopted stand.

And what speeches they made ! Summarising some of the highlights below…

PM MM Singh, the king - Manmohan Singh has finally come out of the shadow of Mrs Sonia Gandhi. Departing from his usual image of a demure and soft – spoken high brow intellectual, he lashed out at Mr L K Advani for his many unsavoury remarks of the past. I cannot help but conjure up the image of PM MM Singh the king, drinking copius
amount of the magic potion that is the secret of strength for Asterix in the Gaul village before he went onto make that speech defending the Nuclear Treaty and counter assaulting L K Advani for mocking him as a ‘Nikkamma PM’. Like Akshaye Kumar in Khiladi no 3 ( a sneak peek shown in OSO), Singh fired the bullets at the Opposition, who took cover from the onslaught with wads of notes that were allegedly offered to them as horse-trading.
Post speech image – Singh is King smses going around Punjab. PM MM is the new Congress Election mascot ( I can already hear the melodious strains of Mann Mohana from Jodha Akbar, coming out of 10, Janpath).

Rahul Baba - Maybe Rahul baba also had some remaining drops of the magic potion before he made the emotive speech about bringing power to Sasikala’s house and thereby, hopefully to most of rural India. No more loadshedding, rural India will finally see the light of the day. Wipee. Point to note – he clarified that he spoke as an Indian, thus rubbishing the claim that some people make about Italian origins.
Post speech image - Rahul baba emerged the charmer, as evidenced how he herded some of the black sheep back into the party fold before the crucial vote.

Omar Abdullah – This man did not need any magic potion. He delivered a speech that managed to rise above the din of the House and snatched attention from even those rebels who were busy calculating the number of zeros in a crore. He thundered at the Opposition benches and ridiculed the notion that the deal is anti muslim “Why must I as an Indian and as a Muslim be afraid of this deal? The enemies of Muslims, like the enemies of all Indians, are poverty, hunger and lack of voice. That is the fight to wage.”
Well said, my friend. Hope that these sentiments expressed in Delhi hold true in Srinagar as well. Post speech image – same as before. Among the new breed of young leaders who inherited the role and is now fitting into it.

Laloo Prasad Yadav – By far, the best speech of the day. He brought in some much needed comic relief and borrowed gem of lines from Hindi movies to declare his love for the Congress and admonishment for the Left.
He declared his love for the Congress with the words from a Hindi movie song,
"Char saal pehle humey tumsey pyaar tha, aaj bhi hai aur kal bhi rahega (we were in love four years ago, and so we will be today and tomorrow),"
He warned the Left who went in search of new allies ,
"Tum humko na chahogey toh koi baat nahin. Lekin tum kisi aur ko chahogey toh mushkil hogi."
He questioned the BJP who interjected and ridiculed Rahul baba’s speech which had references to Kalavati and Sashikala,


Post speech image – The persona of a buffoon, representing Lakshman’s common man in the Indian public life, he commands and gets attention anytime he speaks. Don’t be mistaken; he has a very sharp political brain.

A special mention for Somnath Chatterjee, the Speaker, who refused to bow down to the partisan demands of the Gen Secretary and emerged as a true Parliamentarian, reminding us all of what being a people’s representative is all about. Kudos Dada, you are my hero.

Whether, as Lalooji mentioned, ‘Rakshas’ (demons) where defeated at the ‘gou-bela’(dusk, when the cows are herded back from the grazing fields) , only time will tell, but 22nd July 2008 will be remembered as the day when our Dr. Manmohan Singh emerged as India’s Prime Minister in the true sense of the term and a day when all the elements of a Hindi masala movie was being enacted in the Parliament House.