Speaker ticks off govt on rail minister, MoS absence

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, initially caught unaware on the absence of both railway minister Suresh Prabhu and minister of state Manoj Sinha in the House, said normally during Question Hour nobody reaches that far (completes seven questions in an hour’s time). But then she hastily added that the minister should be present and should not have left the House as it is always possible to cover many questions (in Question Hour). The Speaker said he should be called.

Amid a ruckus by Congress-led Opposition MPs, when Congress chief whip Jyotiraditya Scindia urged her to pass a stricture on this, the Speaker said the absence of the railway minister (Mr Prabhu) from the House during Question Hour was not fair and he shouldn’t have left the House when there was a question listed against his name.

At this point Mr Naidu stood up and accepted it was a mistake. “Definitely it is a mistake. He was very much here. He might have thought that we may not reach up to that question. But it is not correct. I am sorry.” As Congress continued to protest, Ms Mahajan said she had limited options. “What should I do Should I hang him I said it should not have happened,” she said.

Mr Kharge said this was not the first time a minister was absent when matters about their ministries were taken up.