By Sonam Agrawal
Days after the “Modi wave” decimated the opposition and left principal opposition shell shocked and forced to undertake soul searching, now all eyes are set on Parliament whose walls are ready to create history once again and at the same time the vacuum created by stalwarts in the Lower House will be missed.
This time, Lok Sabha will witness some surprising and not so surprising faces.
Sadhvi Pragya Thakur is new BJP MP from Bhopal where the Malegaon-blast accused defeated Congress stalwart Digvijaya Singh. But for Thakur electoral victory does not seem to matter as much as her controversial remarks on the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi. She now faces the chance of disciplinary action from the party leadership for her comments glorifying the ‘right-wing’ Nathuram Godse.
Among the newly elected MPs include noted Sufi singer Hans Raj Hans from North West Delhi. The saffron party’s gamble to show door to former civil servant and Dalit leader Udit Raj, who has now joined Congress, has fetched dividends.
Former crickter Gautam Gambhir, who contested from East Delhi, retained the seat for the party after Mahesh Giri was denied ticket. Gambhir, who faced lots of attack from the AAP in the run up to the polls, trounced former Congress minister Arvinder Singh Lovely by over 3.91 lakh votes.
Another awaited element is the entry of BJP national president Amit Shah into the Lok Sabha. In Rajya Sabha, Shah regularly faced opposition-led turmoil and now it will be interesting to see him ‘deliver’ as a senior lawmaker in the House of the People.
Among new faces in the 17th Lok Sabha is giant slayer Smriti Irani, who wrested the prestigious Amethi seat dethroning Congress president Rahul Gandhi from his family stronghold.
A good orator, as Union minister between 2014 and 2016, Irani led the ruling brigade’s charge quite often especially in the context of suicide of Rohit Vemula.
All eyes will be on cine stars Hema Malini and Sunny Deol — the two BJP MPs linked to noted star and former BJP MP Dharmendara. Sunny Deol is the new entrant who hoisted saffron flag in Gurdaspur in Punjab while Hema Malini has been MP from Mathura since 2014.
For Ravi Shankar Prasad also, this is the first time in the Lok Sabha. He has always been a Rajya Sabha member. He recorded a major win from Patna Sahib after trouncing actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha, who joined the Congress on the eve of elections.
Sporting spirit would also be reflected in the win of former Olympian and Union minister Rajyawardhan Rathore.
The House of the People – as usual – has representatives from wide spectrum of social lives.
In Bengal, BJP has its share of celebrity entry Babul Supriyo from Asansol. Charisma of Bengali actresses Mimi Chakrabaorty and Nusrat Jahan Ruhi also helped them win on Trinamool Congress ticket.
However, the Lower House would miss the voices of its former stalwarts – L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, 16th Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Congress floor leader Mallikarjun Kharge, suave Jyotiraditya Scindia and soft-spoken Yadav ‘bahu’ Dimple.
The 17th Lok Sabha will have services of at least 300 first time MPs. The previous House had 314 MPs who were elected for the first time. According to records, 197 MPs of the 16th Lok Sabha have been re-elected and 45 others have been members of the Lower House previously.
Meanwhile, according to a study by the PRS Legislative Research, the 17th Lok Sabha will have 12 per cent of MPs below the age 40 years. This is more than that of the 16th Lok Sabha which had eight per cent of MPs below the age of 40 years. (UNI)
