Absence of presiding officers at Parliament’s Central Hall on Nehru’s birthday draws flak

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh calls it ‘atrocious’ that no Central Minister was present at official function

Congress president Sonia Gandhi leaves after pay floral tributes to late first former Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s samadhi on the occasion of his 132 nd Birth anniversary at Shanti Van in New Delhi on Sunday morning, November 14, 2021.

The official function to commemorate the birth anniversary of India’s first Prime Minister , Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, at Parliament’s Central Hall on Sunday, resulted in a controversy with former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh questioning the absence of the presiding officers of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha at the event.

In a tweet, Mr. Ramesh called it “atrocious” that no government Minister had been present.

“Extraordinary scene today in Parliament at the traditional function to mark the birth anniversary of those whose portraits adorn the Central Hall. Speaker Lok Sabha absent. Chairman Rajya Sabha absent. Not a single Minister present. Can it get more atrocious than this?!” Mr. Ramesh tweeted.

“Nothing surprises me anymore. This dispensation is destroying India’s great institutions, including #Parliament one day at a time,” added Trinamool Congress’ leader in Parliament Derek O’ Brien, in a response to Mr. Ramesh’s tweet.

Though there was no official word on the absence of Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, a senior official said the Rajya Sabha’s Chairman usually does not attend such functions at the Central Hall, and Mr. Birla attended the November 14 function in 2019 and 2020.

“This year, he [Mr. Birla] is attending a Bal Divas [Children’s Day] function in memory of Pandit Nehru, where children have been invited to the Rajasthan Assembly. He is there with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and the Speaker of the [Rajasthan] Assembly, C.P. Joshi,” the official said.

A formal press release from the Lok Sabha Secretariat said, “Minister of State in the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge; President, Indian National Congress, Sonia Gandhi and Members of Parliament and former Members of Parliament paid floral tributes at the portrait of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in the Central Hall of Parliament House on his birth anniversary.”

The statement also added that the Secretary General of Lok Sabha, Utpal Kumar Singh, and the Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha, P.C. Mody, also paid floral tributes.

Earlier in the day, Ms. Gandhi paid her tributes to Pandit Nehru by visiting the Shanti Van memorial to India’s first Prime Minister.