Congress defends absent MPs, says President's appointments should not be judged

Coming in support of nominated MPs who remain absent from Parliament, the Congress Party on Friday said it should be considered if they cannot come to the Houses and give reason for their absence, adding that questions should not be raised on the President's appointment of the nominated members.

"Sachin Tendulkar is known as the God of cricket. He has commitments on many areas. If he cannot come and gives reason for that I think we should consider that. They can give their contribution and suggestions by coming to the Parliament," Congress leader Pramod Tiwari.

Tiwari further said that if should be left on the MPS as to how much they are interested in coming to the Parliament.

"Questions should not be raised on this. If the President has appointed them then questions should not be raised on his judgement," he added.

Meanwhile, backing Naresh Agarwal's assertion that nominated MPS like Sachin Tendulkar and Rekha must come to the Parliament, JD (U) leader Sharad Yadav said they have given huge contribution, adding that there is no doubt that the issue raised by the Samajwadi Party leader is serious.

Agarwal yesterday questioned the continued absence of sportspersons and Bollywood stars, nominated to Rajya Sabha, from the House even as he cited the case of Sachin Tendulkar for not being present during the session.

Raising the issue during zero hour, Agarwal said, "There are 12 nominated members in RS according to provisions of the Constitution. The council of ministers recommends their names after which President nominates them. These people have been nominated to represent Parliament but we don't see them (in the House).".

Without taking any name, Agarwal said a Bollywood actress has also not been attending Parliament and had not come to the House during the session.

"If they are not interested, shouldn't they resign," he asked.

Agarwal had raised the issue through a 'point-of-order' when the House met for the day.

Deputy chairman P. J. Kurien said this was not a point of order and Agarwal could use his good offices to convince the nominated members to be present in the House for a few days.

Agarwal said if the Chair so suggests, he will write to the members on the issue.

Besides Tendulkar and Rekha, other nominated members include Anu Aga, Sambhaji Chhatrapati, Swapan Dasgupta, Roopa Ganguly, Narendra Jadhav, M. C. Mary Kom, K. Parasaran, Gopi Suresh, Subramanian Swamy and KTS Tulsi.