Meet mimic Advani, shuttler Swaraj

BJP patriarch L K Advani is good at mimicry and four-time Karnataka MP Anant Kumar Hegde is a taekwondo champion. Such facts are tumbling out as BJP leaders from different regions of the country, in Delhi to attend Parliament, meet in the evenings to "know each other better". Vikas Pathak reports.

BJP patriarch L K Advani is good at mimicry and four-time Karnataka MP Anant Kumar Hegde is a taekwondo champion.

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Such facts are tumbling out as BJP leaders from different regions of the country, in Delhi to attend Parliament, meet in the evenings to "know each other better".

"It is not possible to know one another that closely in the House; so we decided that such meetings would help BJP MPs know each other better," said Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj.

The platform, however, has elicited mixed response.

"Am I a monkey that I need to show my talent?" one MP, who stayed away from one such meet, fumed.

These meetings are also occasions for tall claims: an MP who can hardly convey his thoughts in Parliament claimed at a recent meet that he was a debating champion in college.

While some meetings have thrown up surprise talents, the UP meet on Thursday turned out to be a damp squib. Only two of the 10 MPs from the state turned up: Host, Meerut MP Rajendra Agrawal and ex-party chief Rajnath Singh.

But there have been memorable moments too. At a recent meet at Guwahati MP Bijoya Chakravarty's house, Advani mimicked a cricket commentator and said he also used to teach RSS volunteers to sing.

It was Swaraj's turn next: she said she played badminton in college and was an ace debater, winning gold for an all-round performance.