Congress issues whip to Rajya Sabha MPs

Congress party has issued whip to its MPs in Rajya Sabha to be present in the House today.

According to the Rajya Sabha's list of business, the government will be moving the Bill to amend the Right to Information Act, 2005, as passed by Lok Sabha, in the upper house of parliament today.

The BJP has also issued a whip to its members of the Upper House.

The central government will reach out to opposition parties to support the passage of Right to Information (Amendment) Bill in Rajya Sabha, government sources had said on Wednesday.

At a meeting of the Opposition parties, it was decided to demand in Rajya Sabha that seven out of 16 bills including the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019, be sent to Joint Select Committee.

On July 23, the Lok Sabha had passed Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, after the division that allows the Central government to notify the term of office for the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) and Information Commissioners (ICs) with the Opposition slamming the measure as diluting the provisions of the legislation.

The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was passed with 218 members voting in its favour and 79 against it after a reply by Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Jitendra Singh.

The BJP has a clear majority in the lower house of parliament with 303 members on its own and 352 in combinations with allies while it lacks the numbers in the Rajya Sabha.