A delegation of members of Parliament (MPs) from the tiny island nation of Maldives was mystified by events in the Rajya Sabha yesterday, and not just because of the disruption caused by the Opposition over l'affaire Bansal. Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal was repeatedly addressed as "mamu" by Parshottam Rupala (of the Bharatiya Janata Party), a close aide of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. "O Mama... Desh ko mamu mat banao... Mama isteefa do (Uncle, don't fool the nation... Please resign, uncle)," Rupala kept shouting, till one Maldivian MP asked the interpreter what "mamu" meant. It was explained that MPs were referring to Bansal, the maternal uncle (mama) of Vijay Singla who was caught by the Central Bureau of Investigation allegedly accepting a Rs 90-lakh bribe from a Railway Board official.
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