The government faced embarrassment in the Rajya Sabha on Monday as many MPs from the ruling BJP were missing when a Bill granting constitutional status to the Other Backward Castes (OBC) Commission came up for amendment.
The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Third Amendment) Bill to grant constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) is close to the heart of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the absentee parliamentarians are learnt to have drawn his ire. Mr. Modi sought the list of all those MPs, an official said.
Earlier, Mr. Modi had slammed the Opposition parties for stalling the Bill, which gives the Commission the power to investigate complaints and powers equivalent to that of a civil court.
The Opposition slammed the government for not “mobilising the members,” as the House discussed the Bill for over 6 hours.
Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said, “It’s your [government] job to muster support,” as only 126 MPs, majority from the Opposition benches were present in the 245-member strong House.
Panel composition
The Bill, already cleared by the Lok Sabha, was passed in the Rajya Sabha on Monday without Clause-III, regarding the composition of the committee. Congress MPs Digvijaya Singh, B.K. Hariprasad and Hussain Dalwai moved an amendment to Clause III that a woman from the backward community and a member from the minority community be included in the OBC Commission. When the amendment was put to vote, it received 74 votes and 52 MPs voted against it.
Treasury and Opposition Benches were locked in a debate about the validity of the amendment moved by Mr. Singh as a two-thirds majority was required for the amendment to be adopted. To find a way out, the proceedings were suspended for 10 minutes.
“For amended clause, all of you [MPs] should vote together, then only the Bill will carry, otherwise it will collapse,” Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha, P.J. Kurien said.
Finding itself on a sticky wicket, Leader of the House Arun Jaitley accused the Opposition of stalling the Bill.
P. Chidambaram of the Congress said the amendment doesn’t “destroy the Bill” but “strengthens it.”
Mr. Jaitley said there was already a women’s commission and a minority commission and the OBC Commission’s formula was the same as the SC/ST Commission brought by the UPA government in 2004.
Social Justice Minister Thaawarchand Gehlot, while moving the Bill, assured the members that the power of the States to add or drop the names of OBCs would not be encroached upon.
