As motion to adopt GST bill was put to vote, the ayes number was 197 while noes number was nil. (PTI)
As the Rajya Sabha voted, clause by clause, on a constitutional amendment bill to enable mega reform Goods and Services Tax, the electronic voting system provided some amusement for lawmakers after an intense seven-hour debate.
The number of total votes would vary each time a clause or amendment was put to vote. So when the motion to adopt the bill was put to vote, the number of Ayes was 197, while the number of Noes was zero.
However, by the time Clause 2 was put to vote, the number of Ayes had gone up to 200 and for Clause 11, there were 201 Ayes.
Once lobbies are cleared for voting, the doors are closed, and Congress member Anand Sharma wondered where four people had appeared from.
Amid amusement all around, Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien said the figure was subject to correction. However, when the next clause was put to vote, there were 203 Ayes and this time Mr Kurien himself remarked that the number of "ascending."
The number of total votes kept varying and when at one stage 205 'Ayes' appeared on the screen, Mr Kurien quipped, "there is some magic also."
The number came down to 198 Ayes for some later clauses, but the bill was finally passed with 203 Ayes. The only constant on a day of historic unanimity was the Nays - zero each time.
As the key reform crossed a major milestone, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley walked up towards opposition benches shaking hands and exchanging greetings with leaders of different parties including former PM Manmohan Singh, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram.
He also shook hands and greeted other leaders like Trinamool Congress's Derek O Brien, Sitaram Yechury (CPM), Sharad Pawar (NCP), Kanimojhi (DMK), Sharad Yadav (JD-U) and Mayawati (BSP). Later, he cut a cake in his chamber.