When chatty Rahul Gandhi drew eyeballs at President’s address to Parliament

Janjivan Bureau / New Delhi : During President Ram Nath Kovind’s first address to the joint sitting of Parliament on Monday, Congress President Rahul Gandhi drew eyeballs for his front row seat and his chatty presence.
Seated with his Lok Sabha senior Mallikarjun Kharge, Gandhi was often spotted talking to his mother and former party president Sonia Gandhi, and his colleagues Kharge and Anand Sharma.
In between, Gandhi also looked at his mobile phone only to soon keep it away.
With Rahul Gandhi’s first row seat making it hard to ignore his involvement in the Presidential address, there was a lot of talk after the event about the young leader’s restiveness through the 45-minute ritual.
On several specifics flagged by Kovind, Gandhi was seen seeking clarifications from Congress leaders and often even almost smiling curiously at what the President was saying.
His mother Sonia Gandhi was much calmer and looked at her watch once. She also engaged BJP’s LK Advani and escorted him out of his seat after the event.
Kovind, meanwhile, surprised everyone as he suddenly decided to shake hands with all front row leaders after finishing his speech.
Rahul, who appeared in the presidential address for the first time as Congress president, later spent several minutes chatting with party’s lawyer and Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha while Sonia spent time with NCP supremo Sharad Pawar.
Interestingly, while the President and Vice President shook hands with all front row leaders, including those from the opposition, PM Narendra Modi waited in his seat to see the President back to the royal bogey. Modi waited to go to the Houses to do his own handshakes with front row leaders.