Red seems to be the colour of the season, and after the Kisan Long March, it's made an appearance in Parliament.

Yesterday, as the trends for the two seats -- Gorakhpur and Phulpur -- in the UP bypolls showed the SP-BSP alliance emerging victorious -- SP MPs in the Upper House wipped out their red caps and wore them in the House.

It seems SP chief Akhilesh Yadav called his party colleague and MP Prof Ram GopalYadav suggesting that SP MPs should wear the red topi.

The MPs wore their red topis at 2 pm when the Rajya Sabha reassembled after lunch and later to the Central Hall as well. It was a visible celebration of their hard-fought victory in UP CM Yogi Adityanath's bastion of Gorakhpur.

Seeing the reds in her midst, Jaya Bachchan, who will continue as the party's Rajya Sabha MP, gamely asked for a red cap.

As an MP pulled out a cap from a packet he was carrying and gave it to her, BJP MPs observing the bonhomie, wondered why Naresh Aggarwal was missing in parliament.

As it may be recalled, Aggarwal had quit the SP to join the BJP angered by the party's decision to give Jaya Bachchan the RS ticket. His debut speech in the BJP, calling Bachchan a dancer and actor, drew flak from the BJP and the entire opposition.


Image: Samajwadi Party supporters celebrate their success in Phulpur and Gorakhpur bypolls in Allahabad. Photo: PTI