Derek O’Brien, Rajya Sabha MP, in a session at the second day of the India Today Conclave East titled ’Inside Parliament: Question Hour’, decided that instead of him taking questions from the four young students on the dais, he will ask them questions.
Ujaan Ganguly from Jadavpur University, Aastha Agarwal from Loreto College, Dr (in the making) Sain from National Medical College, and Prithviraj from St Xaviers College joined O’Brien.
Joking about not promoting his new book named ’Inside Parliament’ by repeating the sessions' name, Derek said the students could ask him questions, and do the talking, and that politicians are not listening to young people.
Talking about a minimum qualification being mandatory to be an MP, Aastha and Prithviraj said it should be a norm while Ujaan, Sain and O’Brien said qualification doesn’t matter.
What do you expect from your representatives in the Parliament?
Prithviraj: Honesty and integrity are two values politicians should have, given the number of corruption charges coming to light.
Ujaan: Transparency and clarity from each and every MP.
Aastha: Discipline - the kind of language MPs use and mannerisms.
Sain: MPs should be dynamic. And I feel MPs from West Bengal are more dynamic than from other states.
Any MP you look up to as a good Parliamentarian?
Aastha: Arun Jaitley, because in a recent debate on cow slaughter, he was the only one who did not bring in a communal touch to his argument.
Ujaan: Mamata Banerjee, because she’s got a mother’s touch when she approaches issues. That’s exactly what the Bengali soul needs.
Sain: Derek O'Brien.
Prithviraj: Shashi Tharoor, because he reflects the thoughts of today’s youth. He’s been championing the cause of LGBT rights and I think that’s very admirable.
On being asked what they would choose to be -- a journalist or a Parliamentarian -- Prithviraj replied saying he’d like to be "happy" 15 years down the line; Aastha said she'd become a journalist so that she could be impartial and neutral; Sain said he’d choose to be an MP because he’d be at a position where he can help more people; Ujaan said he’d initially be a journalist and later go on to become a Parliamentarian.
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