Parliamentarians asked to maintain decorum and dignity for joint session
Parliamentarians asked to maintain decorum and dignity for joint session
It won't be another day of shouting and table-tapping at Parliament when US President Obama addresses a joint session on Monday. Members from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha are being asked to maintain decorum during the address by the US President. 
World is his stage:u00a0 US President Barack Obama at Mumbai's Xavier's
College on Sunday. pic/afp
Infamous for trooping into the well of the House and shouting each other down, the Indian Parliamentarians are expected to be on their best behaviour while they would play audience to one of the most powerful speakers on the world stage.
The Parliamentary Affairs Ministry has sent an advisory to leaders of parliamentary parties to ensure that decorum and dignity of the institution is maintained. Several MPs had jumped over benches and jostled to reach President Bill Clinton and shake hands with him when he arrived to address the joint sitting of Parliament in March, 2000. Their behaviour had drawn widespread criticism.
Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar is against issuing such instructions to the MPs, who according to her are "mature enough to behave".
BJP MP Arjun Ram Meghwal confirmed the advisory had been issued by the ministry.Obama will address a joint sitting of the two Houses in the central hall of Parliament Monday evening.
Even a BJP leader on Sunday urged all MPs, cutting across ideological divide, to attend the visiting US President Barack Obama's address. "It is the duty of all MPs to welcome a visiting dignitary and attend tomorrow's (Monday's) special Parliament session to hear President Obama's speech," BJP's spokesperson Syed Shahanwaz Hussain said.
Parliament has been turned into a fortress for the event. As Parliament has already faced a terror attack in the past, security agencies have decided to use the services of the National Disaster Management Authority to provide additional security cover this time.
The NDMA, which was formed in 2007, was set up to counter biological, chemical and nuclear terror strikes. It was used to ensure fool-proof security at the Commonwealth Games for the first time.
| Not so lucky |
| aObama's predecessor George Bush, whose tenure saw the signing of the landmark India-US nuclear deal, was keen to address the Indian Parliament but it had to be dropped due to fierce opposition of the Left parties to the nuclear deal. |
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