President skips meetings to watch nuke debate in Lok Sabha

New Delhi (PTI): The excitement of a trust vote debate in the Lok Sabha on Monday saw President Pratibha Patil glued to a television set watching the tense proceedings after giving a skip to all internal briefings.

The constitutional authority who will assume centre stage in the event of a threat to the UPA government watched the Lok Sabha proceedings telecast by Doordarshan from 1100 hours when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tabled the confidence motion before a jam-packed House.

After a brief round of already scheduled meetings, the 73-year-old President went to her family quarters and resumed watching the proceedings.

The meetings with Chattisgarh Governor E S L Narasimhan, former Governor M M Jacob, Power Secretary Anil Razdan and Magasaysay award winner Rajendra Singh were all cut short.

Later, all internal meetings scheduled with Rashtrapati Bhavan officials were postponed to enable the President keep track of the lively proceedings.

The President, after receiving the withdrawal of suuport letter from the four Left parties -- CPI(M), CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc -- has met the Prime Minister during which Manmohan Singh expressed kneeness to face a floor test.


Courtesy:thehindu.com
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