Congress President Sonia Gandhi appears to be unhappy over the absence of seven party MPs during the Question Hour in Lok Sabha with the party indicating that members concerned are expected to be told about the displeasure of the leadership.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal is expected to write letters to these MPs, in an obvious bid to express unhappiness of the party over collapse of the Question Hour on Monday, Parliament sources said.
Thirty-four members who had listed questions were absent during the Question Hour, seven of them from Congress.
An indication of the mood of the leadership was visible at the AICC briefing with spokesman Abhishek Singhvi making it clear that the party has taken the matter very seriously.
"If the party MPs are deliberately absent, the consequences could be very serious," he said.
In the Congress Parliamentary Party meeting held in the last session, Gandhi, who is also the CPP Chairperson, had expressed concern about the trend of MPs remaining absent during proceedings of the House and wanted more attendance.
To a question whether the Congress President has sought any list of the MPs who were absent during the Question Hour, Singvi said, "She might have sought (the list)."
{{/usCountry}}To a question whether the Congress President has sought any list of the MPs who were absent during the Question Hour, Singvi said, "She might have sought (the list)."
{{/usCountry}}"Leave it to us. We have our own internal procedure (to tackle the issue). Everybody has regretted the absence. It's a rare aberration and is unfortunate...such exceptions will not take place again," he said.