New Delhi: The hasty retreat of
Government on the Nuclear liability bill apparently weighing
heavily on her mind, Congress President Sonia Gandhi today
expressed concern over the absence of party MPs and asked them
to take attendance in Parliament more seriously.
Gandhi, who is Chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary
Party (CPP), also wanted greater coordination between the
floor managers and the members with a proper briefing on the
Bills coming up before the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha,
party sources said.
Her observations at the first meeting of the
newly-elected Executive Committee of the CPP came a day after
the Government decided at the last minute in the Lok Sabha to
defer the introduction of the crucial nuclear liability bill
fearing a "loss of face" with the opposition getting united.
Government had to beat a hasty retreat in view of the
failure of 35 of its MPs, including some ministers to be
present in the House. It feared that it could be defeated at
that stage itself in the event of voting by division.
The absence of the MPs and ministers was glaring
especially in view of a three-line whip that was already in
place for a bill on archaeological monuments.
Those who were present in today's meeting included
Suresh Kalmadi, Santosh Bagrodia, Pawan Singh Ghatowar, Rajeev
Shukla and Sandeep Dikshit, Ponnam Prabhakar amongst others.
-PTI
First Published: Tuesday, March 16, 2010, 21:34