Rare Moment Of Congress-BJP Camaraderie In Rajya Sabha Today

The serious discussion in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday on the President's address witnessed some light moments also when Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge mentioned anecdotes involving Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and spoke about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meetings in poll-bound Karnataka.

Mr Kharge, during his more than one-hour-long speech, praised Mr Dhankhar's work as a lawyer and recalled that the vice president once told him that in his early years as an advocate he used to count cash with his hands, but as he gained experience and his career took off he bought a 'cash counting machine'.

"I did not say this. I think you will get a JPC (joint parliamentary committee) set on me," Dhankhar told the Congress president as the House broke into laughter at the light exchange between the two veterans.

Mr Kharge praised Mr Dhankhar's hard work and said "people liked you" as a lawyer and felt that "you can make them succeed".

"Therefore, people kept paying you and there was no time for counting so you asked madam to keep counting with the machine," Mr Kharge told the vice president.

Leader of the House Piyush Goyal also joined in and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was in attendance, brought in digital India to end the hassle of counting cash.

During the discussion, Mr Kharge continued to demand setting up of a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the Hindenburg-Adani issue.

Before the exchanges between Mr Dhankhar and Mr Kharge, there was another moment of collective mirth when the Congress president said the prime minister is always in election mode and is now targeting even his home constituency of Kalaburagi.

"Even when the Parliament was in session, he went to my constituency Gulbarga (now known as Kalaburagi). The PM had two meetings, not just one," he said as everybody, including the prime minister, laughed.

But Mr Kharge kept his focus on the serious issue and pressed for a JPC into the allegations against the Adani Group.

Mr Goyal retorted the JPC is set-up only when allegations are proved.

"If in the case of individuals a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) is set-up, then tomorrow a JPC will decide on the scarf that Mallikarjun Kharge is wearing. This Louis Vuitton scarf, from where it has come? Who paid for it? How much is the scarf for? This cannot be an issue of the Joint Parliamentary Committee," Mr Goyal asserted.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)