Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and her team are going full throttle in preparations for the first appearance of US President Barack Obama in the Indian Parliament — weaving to detail a grand event early next month.
The Lok Sabha TV team is not far behind either. They are readying themsleves to capture the event roll by roll – from the point Obama enters the building through the 45 minutes he would spend at the Parliament – with the deftness behind the camera that makes a film a grand success.
Bright new red carpets that would be rolled out for the US president to walk him through to the Central Hall have already arrived.
Obama will be touring India for the first time after taking office as the US president in 2008. This will be the first time Lok Sabha TV – the Lower House’s own satellite channel network – will beam the entire visit of the head of a state. Earlier, only the speech of the head of a state was telecast.
The TV crew received permission from security agencies and the home ministry to install cameras at strategic locations along Obama’s pathway. “There will be at least seven cameras in action. If possible, we would like to use 10 cameras for the live telecast of President Obama’s Parliament visit,” said a senior official of Lok Sabha TV.
President Obama will address the joint session of the Parliament on November 8, however, the time has not yet been finalised. In 2000, then US president Bill Clinton addressed the House at 11 am.
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Speaker Kumar has asked her office “to come up with new ideas” and will convene a meeting to finalise the details on her return from Geneva. Kumar, known for her fervour for a fine sense to detail, has told her staff that the the central hall should be decorated in a way that would showcase a brighter and greener Parliament building to the American delegates.
The Lok Sabha secretariat is also finalising the seating arrangements for the November 8 event where Michelle Obama will occupy a front row seat of the Central Hall with UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Apart from the Members of Parliament, invitations will be sent out to top foreign diplomats based in Delhi and other “special guests” like noted academicians and top bureaucrats. Governors and chief ministers, however, are unlikely to be present in the Central Hall.
Kumar’s office is also aware of the fact that the first black president of the US will be visiting the Parliament when the first Dalit woman speaker is occupying the top chair in Lok Sabha. The coincidence also assumes social significance as both reflect important social movements within their respective countries.