Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agrawal's remarks drew laughter from PM Narendra Modi in Parliament
Highlights
- Parliament debates PM's cancellation of high-denomination notes
- Naresh Agrawal of Samajwadi Party provides lighter moments
- He jokes about whether PM took Finance Minister into confidence
Prime Minister Narendra Modi couldn't help but laugh briefly during a fierce attack by the opposition on his decision to
ban 500 and 1,000-rupee notes.
It was Naresh Agrawal of the Samajwadi Party that provided the punchline.
During a
debate on demonetisation in the Rajya Sabha, Mr Agrawal joked that "There are those who say the PM did not take (even) Arun Jaitley into confidence (about the notes ban). If Arun
ji had known, he would have whispered this to us, he knows me."
The PM and Mr Jaitley both laughed out loud.
Mr Agrawal won another laugh from the PM when he reassured him "Don't worry for your safety at least in Uttar Pradesh," which is governed by his Samajwadi Party.
In an emotional speech given after announcing the ban on high-denomination notes, the PM had said that forces opposed to his crackdown on corruption
"may not let me live". Since then, opposition leaders have exhorted him - not without sarcasm - to
name those who could harm him.
Mr Agrawal did not name the PM when he warned that a profusion of emotional speeches could allow a conflation with drama.