I met accident as driver had cataract: Nitin Gadkari
New Delhi, Jul 22: Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said in Lok Sabha on Monday that he had suffered a road accident in Maharashtra as his driver had impaired vision due to cataract in one eye and that a chief minister once told him that his driver was "blind in both eyes".
Piloting the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019, Gadkari's remarks were aimed at highlighting how many drivers employed with different governments are not medically fit, though they evoked laughter among the amused members.
Asked by an MP as to how the chief minister's driver functioned when he was "blind" in both eyes, Gadkari said he did so by hearing the sounds around him and cited the stuntmen who ride bikes blindfolded.
The minister, however, might have meant that the driver had impaired vision in both his eyes. He used the Hindi word 'andha' (blind) to describe it.
He did not name the chief minister.
A ministerial colleague also told him that his driver had impaired vision in one eye, Gadkari added.
Gadkari, then the leader of the opposition in Maharashtra legislative council, and his family members had met a serious accident in 2001 when their car rammed into a stationary truck at night.
He said in Lok Sabha that he later got to know that his driver had cataract in one eye and that many government drivers have a similar condition.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
DMK seeks separate seating in Lok Sabha after split with Congress alliance
New Delhi: Kanimozhi Karunanidhi has written to the Lok Sabha Speaker seeking a separate seating arrangement for Members of Parliament belonging to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) following the end of the party’s alliance with the Indian National Congress.
In a letter dated May 7 addressed to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Kanimozhi said the changed political situation made it inappropriate for DMK MPs to continue sitting alongside Congress members in the House.
She requested the Speaker to make “suitable changes” in the seating arrangement of the DMK Parliamentary Party and allot separate seating for its MPs.
“In view of the changed political circumstances and as our alliance with the Indian National Congress has come to an end, it may not be appropriate for our Members to continue occupying the present seating arrangement alongside them in the House,” the letter stated.
Kanimozhi further said separate seating would help DMK members effectively discharge their responsibilities in the Lok Sabha.
