PM Modi pulls up his MPs for absence in Parliament

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi told BJP MPs on Tuesday that it was their basic responsibility to be present in Parliament, and said he could call any of them up at any time. Mr Modi also asked party MPs to highlight the GST as “Ek Desh, Ek Tax (One Nation, One Tax)”, but cautioned that they first needed to get themselves apprised about the subject.

Apparently miffed over a lack of quorum, which often causes delays in Parliament’s functioning, the Prime Minister said he could not be present in Parliament on behalf of missing MPs.

Addressing the BJP’s parliamentary party meeting, Mr Modi told MPs 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 long they attended proceedings inside the Houses. Mr Modi’s remarks came after parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar spoke about incidents of lack of quorum in both Houses, including on Monday.

Earlier also, Mr Modi had asked members to ensure their presence, but this was the first time he gave detailed and tough instructions on the issue. He also recalled the remarks of an RSS functionary that though the Hindutva organisation had spread far and wide, and its members had a lot of work to do, they did not have time to attend shakhas. He said that MPs also seemed to have so much of work that they do not have time to attend Parliament, which should not be the case. As representatives of lakhs of people, it was their job to attend House proceedings, he said.

In his briefing, parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar said that the PM had also laid out the “road map” for the party as it gears up to celebrate its foundation day on April 6, and B.R. Ambedkar’s birth anniversary on April 14.

The PM told MPs that the party’s primary members, numbering over 11 crore  according to its figures, should be asked to join panchayat and municipal-level meetings on April 6. All MPs, ministers and party functionaries would participate in these meetings and highlight the government’s achievements.

The BJP will organise a host of events between April 6 and April 16, in which it will highlight how the Modi government has worked to realise Ambedkar’s ideals with schemes like Jan Dhan and Mudra, among others.