Congress leaders Manmohan Singh, Chidambaram to skip Parliament proceedings

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram have sought leave for remaining absent for the session on health grounds.

Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkiah Naidu, sought the nod of the House to grant leaves.

Apart from Manmohan Singh and Chidambaram, Oscar Fernandes, Navneeth Krishnan, Narendra Jadhav and Sushil Gupta have also sought leave.

Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Meenakshi Lekhi, Anant Kumar Hegde and Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma are among 17 Members of Parliament (MPs) have tested positive for coronavirus in the mandatory tests conducted before the Monsoon Session of Parliament which began on Monday.

As many as 12 MPs from the BJP the most from any party in Lok Sabha, were found infected with the disease during the test followed by the YSR Congress' two MPs and one each of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Shiv Sena and the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party.

Others who have been detected Covid-19 positive include Pratap Rao Jadav, Janardan Singh, Sukhbir Singh, Hanuman Beniwal, Sukanata Majumdar, Goddeti Madhavi, Bidyut Baran, Pradan Baruah, N. Reddeppa, Selvam G., Pratap Rao Patil, Ram Shankar Katheria, Satya Pal Singh and Rodmal Nagar.

BJP's Belagavi MP and Union junior minister for Railways Suresh Angadi will definitely give the monsoon session a miss as he has tested Covid-positive. Though he said he continues to remain "fine" and "asymptomatic", attending the House is out of question for the Minister.

Meanwhile, Union AYUSH Minister Shripad Naik, was on Saturday discharged from a Panaji hospital after being admitted for the same deadly virus, for a month. In fact, his situation turned serious following which a central team from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences was monitoring his health. However, it's very unlikely that the 67-year-old minister will attend the Parliament session.

Meanwhile, at least seven Trinamool Congress MPs including its Chief Whip in the Rajya Sabha Shukhendu Sekhar Roy have decided to give the monsoon session a miss. "I wrote to the House Chairman informing that I will not be attending this session primarily due to two reasons: my age and the order of the Home Secretary during unlock, asking people above 65 years of age to stay indoors, which I have enclosed. As lawmakers, we cannot be lawbreakers," Roy told IANS.

--IANS

miz/rs/