BJP issues whip to its RS MPs

BJP tonight issued a whip asking all its members in Rajya Sabha to be present in the House tomorrow.
Sources in Parliamentary Affairs Ministry said the whip was issued this evening.
Earlier in the day, a number of MPs from BJP-led ruling coalition met Rajya Sabha Chairman Md Hamid Ansari and demanded action against those causing disruptions, amidst continued protests by Congress in the upper House.
Congress also issued a whip to its RS members amidst a view in the party that government may try to push through some legislative measures.
"We have issued a whip and asked all the members to be present tomorrow. There is already a clash between the government and the opposition; we want to be in our full strength even on Friday, which is normally a day for Private Member Bills," said Satyabrat Chaturvedi, Congress's chief whip in Rajya Sabha.

Asked about the development, the deputy leader of Congress in RS Anand Sharma said the party issued the whip as a precaution since BJP had in the past slipped through certain legislative business in the other House, bypassing the Business Advisory Committee.
However, sources in Parliamentary Affairs Ministry claimed there was no possibility of pushing through any legislative measure in Rajya Sabha on the sly as is being speculated in some circles.