Sonia Gandhi cautions party MPs not attending Parliament

Cautioning party MPs not attending Parliament, Congress president Sonia Gandhi today indicated that the leadership will have to crack the whip if they fail to be serious about their legislative duties.

"In almost all my addresses to you, I have felt compelled to refer to another issue, that of attendance. Regular attendance is part of our basic duty and responsibility," she said, chiding the MPs who have a poor attendance in Parliament.

She said, "Even to sit and listen to Parliamentary proceedings is an education in itself. The time has come to take poor attendance on the part of the members seriously." 

Question Hour had collapsed in the last session of Parliament due to absence of MPs from the House, many of them from the Congress.

Gandhi has been repeatedly raising the issue in the last few CPP meetings. 

The party president also underlined the need for improving coordination between the party and the government to keep the MPs better informed on issues likely to be raised by the opposition.

"We have taken steps to improve coordination between the party and the government to keep our MPs better informed on issues likely to be raised by the opposition and enhance the quality of our Parliamentary interventions," she said.