BJP KEEPS TAB ON THE ATTENDANCE OF MEMBERS IN PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEES

The Bharatiya Janata Party has kept track of member attendance in various committees, which has a significant impact on important and contentious subjects discussed in parliamentary committees.

"A party which has the largest presence in Parliament has to make sure that its MPs participate in Committee meetings that are so vital to the Parliamentary democracy," sources told ANI.

During these meetings, BJP leaders frequently carry out an unexpected count of the number of saffron party MPs present. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has conveyed the message of service to the people, and as a result, MPs are needed to address concerns relevant to the public both within and outside the House, according to sources communicating the message to the BJP parliamentarians.

"PM Modi has given us a simple message that we have been sent to serve the cause of the people and therefore it is important to raise the issues concerning the public and be well prepared," the sources said.

When Venkaiah Naidu presided over the Rajya Sabha, he set an example for members to attend meetings regularly; if they didn't, they risked being pulled up for being absent.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has 303 Lok Sabha members and over 100 MPs in the Rajya Sabha.

BJP, the party in power leading the NDA, also holds the chairmanship of several significant standing committees. Former Finance Minister Jayant Sinha is the chairman of the finance committee, while Bhuvaneshwar Kalita, Sushil Modi, and Brijlal are in charge of the panels for health and family welfare, law and justice, and home affairs, respectively.

Congress MPs Shashi Tharoor and Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who were absent from the first list released lately, were included in the second list earlier this month.

In a recent list of standing committee chairmen, Congress MPs were given the chairmanship of two panels: one for the Lok Sabha and the other for the Rajya Sabha.

Tharoor is currently the chairman of the Lok Sabha-powered Standing Committee for Chemicals and Fertilizers after Pratap Rao Jadhav took Tharoor's place on the panel for Information Technology and Communications.

After Anand Sharma's term ended, Singhvi briefly presided over the Home panel. Now, Singhvi is the Chairman of the Standing Committee on Commerce.

These changes follow the government's removal of the Congress party from committees including IT and Home in Parliament on the grounds that the party lacked the necessary number of members.

Another Rajya Sabha committee for the Congress is the Environment panel, which is led by Jairam Ramesh.

Ram Gopal Yadav of the Samajwadi Party was removed from chairman of the committee's health committee, and the TMC also lacks a panel chief.