BackAmit Shah reads the riot act to 30 BJP MPs who skipped Rajya Sabha
BJP president Amit Shah issued a stern warning to the MPs that such conduct should never be repeated
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New Delhi: A day after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) suffered political embarrassment in the Rajya Sabha, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) read the riot act to its members of Parliament (MPs) and some ministers in the Union cabinet at its parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday.
The absence of 30 MPs in the Rajya Sabha enabled the Congress to push through amendments in a constitutional amendment bill for other backward classes (OBCs)—a project that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had personally piloted as part of the BJP’s political outreach strategy.
Members of the BJP who were present at the meeting on Tuesday said that senior leaders of the party conveyed the Prime Minister’s annoyance with the errant MPs.
“Some of the Rajya Sabha MPs have given reasons for the top leadership to be extremely annoyed. Even some of the ministers were not present in the Rajya Sabha, and a committee has been formed which will speak to all those MPs who were missing from the upper house on Monday. The MPs need not give a written explanation of their absence, but a group of leaders will individually speak to them," said a senior BJP leader present at the meeting.
While speaking at the parliamentary party meeting, BJP president Amit Shah issued a stern warning that such conduct should never be repeated.
“When the party issues a whip, members must be present in the House. The party president has taken a serious view of the absence of members. He said it should not have happened and must not be repeated," parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar said after the meeting.
In the course of the meeting, Shah also pointed out to MPs that during the presidential elections some of the votes cast had been deemed invalid and that they should be more careful in the upcoming vice-presidential elections.
Despite repeated warnings by Modi over two consecutive weeks, 30 MPs failed to turn up in the house when the bill was taken up for discussion on Monday evening. During the previous parliamentary party meeting last week, Modi along with senior leaders of the party said that strict action would be taken if MPs are not present in Rajya Sabha during proceedings.
On Monday, the government was left red-faced after opposition amendments were voted through in the Rajya Sabha, which means some clauses of the constitutional amendment bill on OBCs were changed. The passage of the bill required a two-third majority of those present and voting in the 245-member house.
With the amendments being voted through, the bill will have to go back to Lok Sabha for fresh approval.
The legislation is crucial because it is the second constitutional bill which the NDA is looking to get passed in both houses of Parliament. It seeks to provide constitutional backing to the National Commission for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (NSEBC) which will replace the existing National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC).
The embarrassment for the NDA is all the more acute because its numbers increased in the upper house on Monday after Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) crossed over to the NDA over the weekend.
“It is a very serious issue because the NDA lacks majority in the upper house and the absence of MPs in Rajya Sabha could indicate that MPs have not understood the importance of the constitution amendment bill. Since a whip was issued for MPs to be present, the absence of MPs on a crucial bill is a very serious disciplinary issue for the party," said A.K. Verma, a Kanpur-based political analyst and professor of political science at Christ Church College.
PTI contributed to the story.
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