New political reality: Lalu,Mulayam sitting together

RJD chief Lalu Prasad and SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav were seen sitting together as 15th Lok Sabha met for its first session.

Reflecting the changed political reality in the new Lok Sabha,RJD chief Lalu Prasad and SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav were on Monday seen sitting together as the House met for its first session.

The two leaders of the Fourth Front were sitting in the front row of the benches meant for the parties supporting the ruling coalition.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi was seen letting bygones be bygones when Lalu Prasad came to take oath as she led her partymen in thumping the desk.

Having lost power,Prasad was certainly not in his elements and was seen giving an occasional sheepish smile.

Prasad’s party was the second largest ally of the Congress in the previous House with 27 members,which has now come down to just four.

JD-U leaders Rajiv Ranjan Singh ‘Lallan’ and Sharad Yadav were seen taking a dig at Prasad noting that the Chair has declared recess after he has taken oath.

Gandhi was seen greeting RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh with great enthusiasm when he took oath.

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Members of the Left parties,who used to call the shots in the 14th Lok Sabha,were a scattered lot on Monday.

CPI-M leader Basudeb Acharia was seated in the first row while CPI’s Gurudas Dasgupta was seated in the fourth row.

With the focus on the treasury benches,BJP stalwarts L K Advani,Jaswant Singh,Murli Manohar Joshi,Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj were occupying the front row in the opposition side. Their only job today was to greet the new members.

Incidentally,except for Advani all other saffron frontbenchers were members of the Upper House prior to the election.