Time came to a halt in Parliament around 1705 IST on Thursday when all the wall clocks suddenly stopped functioning in both Houses, the Central Hall, in ministers' chambers and rooms.
 
The clocks, operated through a centralised electrical system, came to a standstill following a technical snag, a senior Parliament official said.

Congress member Margaret Alva pointed out to Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi that all four clocks in the House had stopped ticking.
 
"What is happening?" asked Ramdas Athawale (Independent). "This is all because your election symbol is a clock," Joshi replied.

Athawale had contested the last Lok Sabha election as an ally of the Nationalist Congress Party, which has clock as its symbol.

And then somebody remarked to roaring laughter in the house: "It shows NDA's time is over."

Parliament official said efforts were on to restore the clock system.