NEW DELHI : As his absence has become a point deadlock in the Rajya Sabha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today entered the House with loud applause from the ruling BJP and booing from the Opposition. But a small gesture of folding his hands towards the Opposition had dramatic effect in cooling down the tempers, which otherwise was volatile for the last almost a week on demonetisation and loud sloganeering in support of demand for the Prime Minister’s presence during the debate on the issue. A moment before the announcement of Chairman Hamid Ansari’s arrival, Mr Modi entered amid thumping of desks by his party colleagues. Before taking his seat alongside Leader of the House Arun Jaitley, he folded his hands to greet former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad and other members in the opposition benches. He also repeated the gesture when Dr Ansari came to take the Chair. Today, being Thursday, which is fixed for the starred Questions related to the Prime Minister’s Office, Mr Modi’s presence was largely predicted. Mr Azad made it clear in the beginning itself that if the Prime Minster has come only for Question Hour, the Opposition will not allow the debate to resume. At this point, Mr Jaitley stood up and said, “no ifs and buts, start the debate right now.” This proved a stroke which ended the six-day impasse over the currency ban. (AGENCIES)
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