OBC Bill in Rajya Sabha: Red-faced Shah demands reason for BJP MPs' absence

Also accused Congress of 'conspiring' to derail Constitution amendment bill on the backward classes

A red-faced BJP will seek written explanations from its MPs, including union ministers, whose absence from the Rajya Sabha despite a whip resulted in opposition amendments getting passed, after party chief Amit Shah pulled them up today, taking a "serious view" of the matter. 

Shah made his displeasure amply clear at the BJP parliamentary party meeting where he said he does not want to "name and shame" them but warned against a repeat of such an embarrassing lapse. 

A senior BJP leader said nearly 17 party MP, including ministers, were missing from the House when a united opposition determinedly pushed for certain changes in the constitution amendment bill to set up a National Commission for Backward Classes with constitutional status. 

The government suffered embarassment when the amendments were passed by 74 to 52 votes. The BJP's strength in the house is 56, while the ruling bloc enjoys the support of 88 members, including 10 JD(U) MPs. 

"When the party issues a whip, members must be present in the House. The party president has taken a serious view of the absence of members. He said it should not have happened and must not be repeated," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar told reporters. 

Shah said the OBC bill was an important legislation for the Modi government and lamented that it was stalled due to lack of numbers. 

He asked MPs that they had been sent to Parliament to "deliver and perform", and their absence despite a whip was simply unacceptable. 

Among the ministers not present in the House were Ravi Shankar Prasad, Piyush Goyal and Dharmendra Pradhan. However, a party source insisted that some of the absentee members might have valid reasons for their absence. 

"Everybody will be asked to explain. It is only after we receive their response that we will make an assesment," the source said. 

The party leadership is especially purturbed as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been repeatedly stressing, including at a similar meeting last week, on the need for the presence of MPs in Parliament during sessions. 

Shah also told the MPs that several votes cast during the presidential poll turned out to be invalid and asked them to ensure that they cast their votes properly during the vice- presidential election on August 5. 

Congress derailing Constitution

Amit Shah accused the Congress of "conspiring" to derail the Constitution amendment bill on the backward classes and asked party members to "expose" the "anti-OBC" party. 

His remarks came a day after the Rajya Sabha passed the opposition-backed amendments to the legislation in an embarrassment to the government. 

"The bill should have been passed by Parliament in the budget session as the Lok Sabha had passed it unanimously. But the Rajya Sabha sent to a select committee. All parties made unanimous recommendations in the committee but the Congress again conspired to stop it," Shah told MPs. 

The legislation has been projected by the BJP as a major political outreach to the politically-crucial backward classes and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has time and again highlighted it as a major effort of his government to address the communities' concerns. 

Though the government enjoys a strong majority in the Lower House, it is still short of a majority in the Upper House. 

Shah also asked party's lawmakers and other members to participate in a big way in three exercises, including the week long event starting between August 9-15 to mark the 75th anniversary of Quit India movement. 

The party has also asked its members to participate in August 15-30 'sankalp yatra' and then reach out to first-time voters in the year 2018. Modi has called them new millennium voters.