Key clause in constitutional bill falls through as 30 MPs skip RS

Despite the Prime Minister’s admonition, the Rajya Sabha on Monday saw 30 Members of Parliament missing from the ongoing Monsoon Session leading to a crucial clause being dropped from a Constitution amendment Bill granting constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes.

In the absence of nearly 30 NDA MPs,  the Constitution (123rd Amendment) Bill, 2017, was passed minus Clause 3 which dealt with the composition of the commission. This was particularly mortifying for the government as it had introduced the bill to woo the politically significant backward castes, reports state.

The list of missing MPs included ministers Vijay Goel, Nirmala Sitharaman, Smriti Irani, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Dharmendra Pradhan, Piyush Goyal, MJ Akbar, Ramdas Athawale as well as AIADMK ranks and Shiromani Akali Dal leaders such as Naresh Gujral.