Sharad Pawar’s absence irks opposition

The absence of agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, petroleum minister Murli Deora and parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Bansal from Lok Sabha after lunch break led to a vociferous Opposition declaring that proceedings on the issue of price rise would not be discussed until one of them was present.

Pawar’s inability to return to the House after lunch became clear after Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandopadhyay rose to participate in the debate.

“Pawar had telephoned speaker Meira Kumar, opposition leader Sushma Swaraj and leader of the House Pranab expressing his inability to come due to sudden illness,” Bandopadhyay said before speaking on the topic.

When the House met after lunch, Sushma asked deputy speaker Karia Munda why senior ministers were not present when the House was debating such a serious issue.

“Not one senior minister whose ministries are responsible for price rise is available in the House. Senior leaders of opposition are waiting to speak, but these ministers did not find it serious enough to listen. Is that why they wanted to discuss the issue under a provision that does not entail voting?” she said.