New Delhi: The spectre of a faux pas was again witnessed in the Lok Sabha on Thursday with even External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj making the mistake of pressing the wrong button while voting.
Swaraj, who was impressing upon the House that the Land Boundary Agreement should be unanimously passed, herself, however, voted against the measure when it was taken up for passage.
When the voting took place by division on the Constitution Amendment Bill, the display board showed 320 members in favour of the motion and only one against. The negative vote was by Swaraj who had pressed the red button instead of green.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was seen looking at Swaraj and smiling, while Opposition members had a hearty laugh. Swaraj then corrected her vote through paper.
Soon CPI(M)’s Mohd Salim and some others urged Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to correct it. Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu also urged the Speaker to correct it before announcing the result of the vote, instead of having a vote on the same issue again.
Mahajan, who had not made the announcement till then, said the motion had been adopted with 322 votes in favour and none against.
Earlier in the day, another faux pas was witnessed when a number of BJP members said ‘No’ during the voice vote on an official amendment moved by Women and Child Minister Maneka Gandhi to the Juvenile Justice Bill.
Opposition members took a swipe at the ruling benches over it even as Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai, who was in the Chair, said he had not completed the process of voting and did not take the ‘No’ into consideration.
