Present, Sir! Roll call for BJP MPs

NEW DELHI, APRIL 22: Attendance is compulsory, absentees will be pulled up. This is the latest order from the BJP leadership to its MPs in...

NEW DELHI, APRIL 22: Attendance is compulsory, absentees will be pulled up. This is the latest order from the BJP leadership to its MPs in the form of a “roster of attendance,” issued to ensure that quorum is maintained in the Lok Sabha.

Embarrassed by the recent defeat of its government in UP over a tax bill — it was voted out by the Opposition since many ruling party MLAs were absent — the BJP has decided to play the schoolmaster.

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pramod Mahajan has prepared an elaborate list of all 182 MPs, dividing them into two shifts per day — 2 pm to 4 pm and 4 pm till the rising of the House — to ensure the presence of at least 50 in each shift. The shifts have been worked out to ensure “proper representation” of different states.

Story continues below this ad

So on Monday, as per the roster, those expected in the first shift in the Lok Sabha are Kirti Azad from Bihar, Bhavna Chikhalia from Gujarat, Uma Bharti from Madhya Pradesh, Vaidya Vishno Dutt from Jammu and Kashmir, Giridhari Lal Bhargava from Rajasthan, Anita Arya from Delhi, Y G Mahajan from Maharashtra, G Malikarjunappa from Karnataka and Dr N Venkataswamy from Andhra Pradesh.

The pre-lunch session has not been included since important matters and voting are usually restricted to the latter part of the day. Mahajan’s notice along with the list made it clear that the roster was only to ensure quorum in the House. “Otherwise, you are expected to be in Delhi throughout the session and attend all sittings of the House regularly, as there may be divisions in the House without prior notice,” he stated, signing off with “Brotherly yours.”

Major General (retd) V C Khanduri, MP from Pauri Garhwal, will ensure attendance as per the roster. “The former Army officer was considered the right person to be given the prashasnik danda (administrative stick,” said an MP wryly. Petroleum Minister Ram Naik is in charge of ensuring the presence of party ministers.

Though disciplinary action has not been taken against any MP so far, many of them have been issued notices for being absent on the day they were not supposed to be. “First only notices are sent. But if an MP repeatedly does not show up, disciplinary action will be initiated against him. The party means business this time,” said senior leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra, who maintains the roster when Khanduri is not present.

Story continues below this ad

“Several times the MPs did not show up for voting, putting the party in an extremely uncomfortable and embarrassing position,” said Malhotra. “Recently, we put up two members for the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) Advisory Committee. Our people didn’t show up to vote, for whatever reason, and we lost. We cannot let this happen. After all, we are the ruling party,” he said.