Parliamental by Meghnad S

Author:Meghnad S
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: null
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers India
Published: 2019-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

8

#StarPower

‘Is Srikar going to speak today?’

Raghav paused after seeing the text from Nikita.

‘Nope. And all thanks to you, lady,’ he responded.

‘LOL you’re welcome.’

Raghav looked up to see a few lazy MPs lounging about at the party office. The TV was switched to the Lok Sabha channel and Raghav was waiting to see how Ranveer Chopra would do. It was his speech, after all.

‘Raghavji, it’ll be fine. He’s a Bollywood superstar. Talking to an audience is his thing,’ said Sehrawat, sorting some papers. He was always doing that, moving them from one stack to another. There was some complex filing system which only he knew about. It took him three seconds to pull out whichever document the MPs and their staff would demand.

‘Yeah, I’m sure.’ Raghav looked away from the TV to Sehrawat’s cheerful face. ‘How did you know I was thinking about Chopra?’

Sehrawat chuckled. ‘I saw when he came to you and Srikarji yesterday. I figured he was asking for help, given how confused he looked when the bill was assigned to him. You pair are the only people in this party who seem to study the bills. Others just do as Netaji tells them to.’

‘Anti-defection,’ whispered Raghav under his breath.

‘Anti-defection,’ responded Sehrawat, still cheerful.

The home minister had introduced the SMRA Bill and it was being considered. The Opposition leader was speaking dramatically about how democracy was dead, how doomsday had arrived. ‘These are the days of thought control!’ he declared loudly, referencing George Orwell.

Raghav looked away and asked, ‘Sehrawatji, I had to write a speech in support of this bill for Ranveer Chopra. It killed me inside because I can see all the dangerous provisions upfront. Yet, I can’t mention them. Instead, I had to make them look like the best thing that has happened to the country.’

‘That’s your job, my boy,’ said Sehrawat. ‘Your opinion doesn’t matter unless your boss wants to express it in Parliament. Consider yourself lucky that at least some of the stuff you worked on got attention.’

‘Attention. Right. And a buttload of trouble.’

Sehrawat just chuckled and looked at the TV. Chopra was arranging his papers as he got up to give his speech on the SMRA Bill. A ticker was running underneath which said, ‘LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS: Bill for Consideration and Passing – Social Media Regulatory Authority Bill.’

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