For the MPs, by the MPs and of the MPs - a magazine for parliamentarians

An edited version appeared in the Indian Express on December 23, 2010.

Chinki Sinha

New Delhi, December 13, 2010


This one's for the Members of the Parliament, by the members and of the members.

A magazine, due to be launched next month by the Constitution Club, will map the unknown side of the members, their quirks, their hobbies, and spread them across 28 pages.

This will be their space where they can write about what the other mainstream media won't explore, or cover, officials said.

Because even under the constant public stare, the eye, the representatives always had the other side, another dimension to their public life.

The magazine will make them more human to the public at large when the magazine, at some later date, starts selling at the stalls. Tucked into these pages, their personalities will span out beyond the tag of the policy maker.

In his own time, former Union Minister of State Vijay Goel likes photography. And that's a lesser-known fact about his life. South Mumbai MP Milind Deora strums the guitar in clubs because that's what he is passionate about.

Called the Central Hall, the magazine's editorial board will have journalists, editors and members, including HT Media's Sobhana Bhartiya, The Pioneer's Chandan Mitra and Rajiv Pratap Rudy, the BJP spokesperson and secretary of the Constitution Club, who will take turns to write columns.

“The purpose is to cover what media doesn't cover,” Rudy said.”This is the first of its kind. For 60 years in the history of the Constitution Club, we never had our own publication.”

In the works for more than six months, the magazine will be circulated among the members at first. But the officials plan to make it accessible to the public later.

The first issue of the monthly magazine will include an interview with Sharad Joshi, as well as a feature on Prakash Jadavekar’s wife Prachi, an academician, and how “an MP’s wife can make a difference to society in her own way”.

The reporting and writing will be done by the Club's research cell, Rudy said.

Each issue will consist of 5-6 features, including one on the Constitution. For instance, the lead feature for the first issue is on how does a bill become an act.

Members can write about their own experiences as well. Rajya Sabha Member Shahid Siddiqui has written a personal account of his experience of staging a play on the occasion of Children's Day and his take on the laws regarding child welfare in the country.

“We thought there needs to be a publication where parliamentarians can write about themselves rather being dependent on others. They together will own it,” a Constitution Club official said.

The cover has been designed by Anando Dutta, a visual designer who has designed logos for Tata Infotech using the cover of the Indian Constitution.

When it launches for the public, the cover will be redesigned, officials said.

“We are still in the decision-making stages. It took 50 years to come out with a magazine so we are taking it slow,” the official said.

The magazine also seeks to provide a forum where families of the members can interact and know more about each other by featuring them in its pages. Features will also cover their spouses, their children and their activities.

Besides adding a gym and a spa to the Constitution Club and organizing a car rally of the Parliamentarians, the magazine is the latest edition to the club's offerings to its members.