Friday, February 17 2006 14:18 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: "Please spare him, otherwise the Question Hour will lose its charm." This was Rajya Sabha Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat's request to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when he introduced newly-inducted Minister of State M Subbirami Reddy to the House.

There was a loud applause from members when Reddy, a Rajya Sabha member, rose in his seat. Some of his colleagues asked who would now raise supplementaries during Question Hour.

The House burst into peals of laughter at the Chairman's request to the Prime Minister who earlier introduced in the House new Cabinet Ministers Sushil Kumar Shinde, A R Antulay, Vyalar Ravi, Murli Deora and Saifuddin Soz.

Singh also introduced Santosh Mohan Deb, P C Gupta and Kapil Sibal, who have been elevated to the Cabinet rank.

Besides Reddy, the other new Ministers of State introduced by the Prime Minister were G K Vasan, P K Bansal, Anand Sharma, Ajay Maken, M M Palani Raju, Chandrasekhar Sahu, Akhilesh Das, Jairam Ramesh, Ashwini Kumar and D Prandeshwari.