I was stunned to see billionaires when I first arrived in Parliament: Speaker MB Rajesh

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Speaker MB Rajesh on Thursday said that he was stunned to see several billionaires when he first arrived at the Indian Parliament. The speaker recollected his Parliament memories while speaking at a conference organized by the former members of the Legislative Assembly in Thiruvananthapuram.

"When I first reached the Parliament after winning a Lok Sabha election, an MP came to me and congratulated me soon after I delivered my first speech. After talking for some time, he asked me how much did I spend on the election. When I replied that I did not spend much money, he told me that he had spent nearly 30 crores on election works. When I asked him how he spends so much money from his own pocket, he replied that he was an MP with an annual turnover of nearly Rs 60,000 crores. They belonged to the premier league while we were below the poverty line," MB Rajesh said.

He pointed out that Kerala can be proud of the democratic tradition that none of the MLAs here have become a commodity for sale. Former Speakers and former MLAs attended the function organized by the Former MLA Forum in the Assembly.