New Delhi: Was the railways responsible for
some members of Lok Sabha being absent from the House on
Monday that led to collapse of Question Hour and triggered a
controversy?
This was the contention of a Congress member Harsh
Vardhan, who said today that he could not reach the House in
time because of delay in train when he was travelling in from
his constituency Maharajganj in Uttar Pradesh to Delhi.
He said he was raising the issue during Zero Hour as
questions had been raised over their absence from the House on
Monday.
The Congress member said he had gone to his constituency
for a meeting and wanted to return in the morning of Monday
ahead of the sitting of Parliament.
Criticising the functioning of the railways broadly, he
said the train, in which he was coming to Delhi, was halted at
Gorakhpur on that day leading to delay.
Vardhan said some other MPs, including Yogi Adityanath
(BJP), were also travelling in the train and were delayed
like him. Adityanath was not present in the House when Vardhan
spoke.
Blaming the Station Master for the problem, Vardhan
demanded action against him.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi has taken serious note of
the party members being absent from the House on a large scale
and has sought a list of the truant MPs.
Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh (SP) joined Vardhan, saying he
too could not come because of the train delay.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, December 02, 2009, 18:20