Absentee MPs won't get chance to ask supplementaries: LS Speaker

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday ruled that those members who give names for asking supplementary questions during the Question Hour but remain absent would not be given the chance to put forward the queries during the remaining period of the winter session.

The Speaker's ruling came after he found that Shiv Sena member Prataprao Ganpatrao Jadhav remained absent after giving his name for asking a supplementary question related to the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers.

"Those members who give their names for supplementaries but remain absent will not be given any chance to ask supplementaries in this session," he said during the Question Hour.

The issue of absenteeism among BJP MPs from Parliament was also raised at the parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday, with senior leader Rajnath Singh underlining Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dissatisfaction over lack of their adequate presence many times.

According to sources, Singh also asked party MPs to be present in large numbers when Home Minister Amit Shah tables the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, as he asserted that this draft legislation is as important as the move to abrogate Article 370.

Asking the BJP MPs to ensure their presence in Parliament as it is going to take up key bills in the coming days, he said the prime minister has time and again spoken against absenteeism among the parliamentarians but the issue persists.