Congress issues whip asking MPs to be present tomorrow in Rajya Sabha

Congress on Thursday issued a three line whip asking its MPs to be present in full strength in Rajya Sabha on Friday amidst a view within the party that the government may try to slip through some legislative measures.

"We have issued a whip and asked all the members to be present tomorrow. There is already a clash between the government and the opposition; we want to be in our full strength even on Friday, which is normally a day for Private Member Bills," said Satyavrat Chaturvedi, Congress's chief whip in Rajya Sabha.

Asked about the development, the deputy leader of Congress in the House, Anand Sharma, said the party had acted thus as a matter of precaution since BJP has in the past slipped through certain legislative business in the other House, bypassing the Business Advisory Committee.

Sources in the Congress said that there is a view in the party that with most of the legislative business of the Monsoon session yet to be carried out due to the near wash-out of the proceedings over protests against senior BJP leaders caught in controversy, the government may try to push certain Bills amidst the din through supplementary agenda.

The whip is to ensure that the government does not succeed in getting measures passed taking advantage of the absence of opposition members, they said. Several key legislations, including the one on GST, which is a Constitution-amendment Bill, are held up due to the current impasse in Parliament.