Two interesting features of runaway behaviour are observed in the startup phase of the very low qa (VLQ) (1 < qa < 2) discharges in the SINP tokamak. As qa was reduced by lowering the toroidal field values, the hard X (HX) ray intensity (which indicates the presence of runaway electrons) fell considerably. The time at which the peak in the HX ray intensity occurs also shifts ahead in time, indicating premature dumping of the runaway electrons. This seems to aid the development of the rest of the discharge as exhibited by the diamagnetic loop signal.