Air pollution was at emergency levels over the past two days in many cities of North India including Delhi. While citizens of the national capital struggled to breathe, our parliamentarians were seen gorging on jalebis instead of attending a meeting scheduled to discuss effective methods to deal with the pressing matter of air pollution. 

Twenty-one members of Lok Sabha and eight from Rajya Sabha were supposed to attend the much-talked-about meeting by the Standing Committee of Urban Development scheduled on November 14 in New Delhi. But guess how many turned up? 

Just four. These MPs were Hussain Masoodi (Anantnag, National Conference), CR Patil (Navsari, BJP), Sanjay Singh (Delhi, AAP) and Jagdambika Pal (Domariyaganj, BJP). Pal is chairman of the Urban Development Committee.

We decided to reach out to the missing MPs to figure out what kept them away from attending the meeting. Here’s what some of them told us.

Kalyan Banerjee of All India Trinamool Congress, an MP from Serampore district, said he did not attend the meeting because it was conducted by the Standing Committee of Urban Development. According to him, the committee had nothing to do with Delhi pollution. 

“Pollution is the subject matter which comes under the jurisdiction of the Environment Standing Committee and not the Urban Development Standing Committee,” he said.

On being told that the two committees are interrelated, he just repeated himself. He added, “I have a lot of work to do in my constituency and I also have to come to Delhi on November 18 to attend the Parliament session. I had a commitment to my constituency.”

Benny Behanan of Indian National Congress, an MP from Chalakudy constituency of Kerala was puzzled why the meeting was so important. “I had some serious political meeting in Kerala. I got the notice three days before, and the day after tomorrow I will be in Delhi for the winter session, I don’t understand what is the urgent need?”

Behanan even claimed that he wasn’t aware that the agenda of the meeting was pollution. The document intimating the meeting that Newslaundry checked clearly mentions, “Air pollution in Delhi” as its agenda.

Newslaundry confirmed this from Hasnain Masoodi, one of the four MPs who attended the meeting. Masoodi of Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, an MP from Anantnag, said the agenda of pollution in Delhi was mentioned in the invitation notice itself. 

Ramcharan Bohra of BJP, an MP from Jaipur, Rajasthan, did not attend the meeting because the party’s state vice president’s mother passed away. Sudhakar Tukaram Shrangre, a BJP MP from Latur, Maharashtra blamed the political drama in Maharashtra for his absence from the meeting. He said he had to attend a meeting related to government formation in Maharashtra owing to which he couldn’t make it.

For Ahmed Hassan, a Rajya Sabha MP of All India Trinamool Congress, just the idea of travelling all the way to Delhi, going back to his constituency and then back to Delhi again for the winter session was a hectic proposition.

The agenda of the meeting was a bit problematic for Syed Imtiaz Jaleel of All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), an MP from Aurangabad (Maharashtra). He said it was specific to Delhi whereas he wanted a meeting that would focus on pollution in the entire country. If anything, the meeting would have been the perfect opportunity for him to raise the issue but that was not to be. Another reason he gave us was this: “I had to attend a meeting on Railway affairs and 11 people in Aurangabad died of dengue. I had to attend those meetings.”

Mathura is one of the most polluted cities in India. But for its MP Hema Malini, it wasn’t reason enough to attend the meeting. She wasn’t around when this Newslaundry correspondent contacted her office. Her personal secretary said she had a prior appointment in Mumbai. Her flight was delayed due to which she could not turn up.

Sunil Kumar Soni of BJP, an MP from Raipur said he did not come because the election in Jharkhand is close. He has been given the responsibility of Koderma and a few more constituency. When asked why election campaigning was more important than pollution, he said, “I’m preparing for the election and I certainly know BJP will come to power in Jharkhand. We will make sure such problems do not arise in our state.” On being questioned about states governed by BJP that are equally polluted, the MP fumbled for an answer. He then said, “I just want to say that the pollution of Delhi is very bad and needs to end.” 

Shri Kumar Ketkar, a Rajya Sabha MP from INC too did not attend the meeting. When Newslaundry contacted him, he was not available in his office. His personal secretary said, “Sir is not in Delhi and did not attend the meeting.” When asked about the reason behind his boss’ absence, he said, “Why should I tell you?” 

PC Mohan, a BJP MP from Bangalore Central, and Aparajita Sarangi, BJP MP from Bhubaneswar were also not present for the meeting. Neither of them had a valid explanation for their absence. Ariff, Adv. Abdul Majeed from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and an MP from Alappuzha (Kerala) is also a member of the Standing Committee on Urban Development. He too failed to attend the meeting. His explanation: Things to attend to in his constituency and some inauguration work.

Here’s hoping at least the Winter Session set to begin on November 18 will get our MPs together to discuss the issue.