Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday pulled up BJP MPs for skipping Parliament proceedings following incidents of lack of quorum.
Modi’s tough talk to his party MPs at the weekly BJP Parliamentary Party meeting came following frequent delay in start of work in the two Houses due to lack of quorum – the minimum number of members needed for valid proceedings.
He told them that attending Parliament is their basic responsibility and added wryly that he can do a lot of things but cannot be present there on their behalf.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar spoke about incidents of lack of quorum in both the Houses, including Monday, prompting Modi to say that it should not be about requesting the MPs to be present as it is their basic responsibility.
BJP members said that the PM told them that it did not matter to him if they were in the Central Hall, a place to host joint sittings of Parliament where MPs often meet for informal conversation, as what is important is that they should be inside the Houses.
“I can call any of you any time,” the PM was quoted as saying by a member. He added that Modi was visibly unhappy over absenteeism.
Modi had in the past also asked members to ensure their presence in the two Houses but this time he spoke out without mincing words.
He recalled the remarks of an RSS functionary who had lamented that though the Hindutva organisation had spread far and wide, its members seem to be too busy to attend ‘shakhas’ (meetings).
Likewise, the MPs too seemed to have so much of work that they do not have time to attend Parliament, which should not be the case, he said.
As representatives of lakhs of people of their constituency, it is their job to attend the House proceedings, he said.
In his briefing, Kumar said Modi also laid out the “road map” for the party as it gears up to celebrate its foundation day on April 6 and Dalit icon Bhim Rao Ambedkar’s birth anniversary on April 14.
