Question Hour absenteeism seems to have spread from House to House. After the poor attendance in Lok Sabha last week, six members against whose names questions were listed stayed away from Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
Wondering where the members had disappeared for the second consecutive day, an exasperated vice-president and Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari said, “Is there a virus?” And, with no answer forthcoming, he replied a minute later, “I think so.”
Tuesday’s absentees included Varinder Singh Bajwa (Akali Dal), Prabha Thakur (Congress), Nand Kumar Sai (BJP), Sabir Ali (LJP), Rajeev Shukla (Congress) and S Anbalagan (AIADMK).
Ansari had said on Monday Rajya Sabha was in the process of amending rules to ensure the problem was addressed. “This situation will change very soon,” he said.
Deputy chairman Rahman Khan said the rules will be amended in such a way that once called out, questions will become the property of the House and will be answered whether the members who have raised them are present or not.
“The question will be asked by someone who is present or the presiding officer, but it will not be allowed to lapse,” he said.
Flights, Trains to blame?
After the railways, it’s the turn of the airlines to share the blame for MPs turning up late in parliament or missing the day’s proceedings. BJP member Nand Kumar Sai, who remained absent during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday despite listing a query, demanded change in flight timings to prevent absenteeism in the House. “The flight from Raipur should be a bit early in the morning so that we can reach parliament well before time,” he said. Sai said, “I had gone to my constituency [Chhattisgarh’s Surguja, which he represented in the 14th Lok Sabha] as civic polls are under way there.”
Congress MP Rajiv Shukla said, “I was very much in parliament. I was late by just a minute as I had gone to Central Hall for official work.” Earlier, a few MPs had blamed the railways for running trains late, saying this delayed them in parliament.
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