Deepika after wishing Priyanka belated Happy Birthday (Image via indiatoday.com)
A special session of the Lok Sabha called for by the government on Saturday morning, was adjourned within 15 minutes after MPs from the Congress party, the TMC and sundry other parties stormed to the well of the parliament demanding a resolution against Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone for her one day delay in tweeting birthday wishes to actress Priyanka Chopra. “Priyanka needs our voice now!” read the placards brandished by some MPs.
Speaking in an emotional tone, PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti asked, “Have our hearts turned to stone? Deepika wished Katrina ‘Happy Birthday’ on the same day but wished Priyanka only the next day. What bigger issue can there be than this?” Within moments TMC MPs joined her in support, and Congress MPs joined in a few minutes later when one of them woke up due to the uproar and assumed that ‘Priyanka’ in the placards referred to Priyanka Gandhi.
Later, when The Unreal Times asked one of the protesting MPs, whether it was fair for the MPs to create a ruckus over something that is totally disconnected with the issues on which they were elected to the House by the people of India, an angry MP shot back, “Why not? The other day, we got the parliament adjourned demanding a resolution against Israel for their role in the ongoing conflict in Gaza. This Deepika – Priyanka issue is just as irrelevant to India’s immediate development needs!”
Meanwhile, the government has refused to entertain the opposition demand on this issue, and has categorically ruled out a resolution against Deepika Padukone. “The government thinks both the leading actresses are equally hot and have several hits to their credit. This is a sensitive issue and we’ll do nothing to jeopardize our policy pertaining to Bollywood actresses,” said Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu. “We are not umpires,” he stressed.