After Kejriwal, HC may be moved against Modi's low attendance

Soon after rebel AAP legislator Kapil Mishra filed a plea in the Delhi High Court against state Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's low attendance in the assembly, Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh on Monday said he will file a petition seeking details of Prime Minister Narendra Modis presence in Parliament.

"In four years, the Prime Minister has taken part once in discussing government bill, five times in introduction of new ministers, six times he was part of thanksgiving proposal and twice participated in special discussions. But during this period, he has addressed 800 rally," Singh said in his tweet.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said he would file an application in the Delhi High Court seeking details of Modi's attendance in Parliament and ensure his presence in the House.

Singh said that Modi remained busy with his foreign trips and did not attend Parliament, which was a matter of great concern. Singh also said that despite being in the premises, he did not show up in the House.

The leader also targeted Mishra and asked why was he silent on Modi's low attendance.

He said: "Despite appeal by the entire opposition, Narendra Modi does not come to Parliament, Modi ji and LG only create hurdles in various schemes of Delhi government but Kapil Mishra does not utter a word. Is Mishra's protest sponsored?"

Earlier in the morning, Mishra filed a plea in the high court and sought that Kejriwal be directed to attend assembly sessions and a provision be introduced to make 75 per cent attendance mandatory for all MLAs.

"Direct the Lt. Governor to ascertain feasibility of 'No Work, No Pay' for the MLAs, if presence is less than 50 per cent in the assembly," the plea said.

He has requested the court to issue direction to the Lt. Governor and the Speaker of the Delhi Assembly to ensure the presence of Kejriwal in the House and give replies to questions related to public interest.

Mishra has also demanded that Kejriwal bring out an annual report card clearly outlining his performance.

"Last year, the Delhi Assembly had 27 sessions but the Chief Minister, who is also the Water Minister, was present in seven only. It is not out of context to state that Delhi faces water crisis every year," the plea said, adding that during question hour, Kejriwal was never present in the assembly in the last 40 months.

"This shows how serious the Chief Minister is in discussing matters related to the people of Delhi and their development and performing the duties expected of them," the plea read.

--IANS

akk/nir/bg