Were Rekha and Sachin arm-twisted into accepting Rajya Sabha membership?

Lyricist and another former nominated Rajya Sabha MP Javed Akhtar said Rekha and Sachin might have been "arm-twisted" to accept the nomination.

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Were Rekha and Sachin arm-twisted into accepting Rajya Sabha membership?

In Short

  • Samajwadi Party MP had first raised the issue
  • BJP leader Chandan Mitra said the MPs have demeaned the President of India
  • Mani Shankar Aiyar said no need to raise hue and cry

Chorus is growing over absentee nominated Members of Parliament. The view that the MPs nominated by the President to the Rajya Sabha should start attending House proceedings more often has become dominant.

On March 30, Samajwadi Party MP Naresh Agarwal had raised the issue of nominated members remaining absent from the House proceedings for a long period of time. He said that he has not seen eminent members of the Upper House such as cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar and Bollywood actor Rekha attend the proceedings in the session.

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Agarwal asked the chair whether the nominated members of the Upper House continue to remain absent from the House. He even said that they should resign if they were not interested.

Several politicians agree with the sentiments expressed by Agarwal. BJP leader Chandan Mitra said if nominated members like Rekha and Sachin brought glamour to Parliament, they could have contested the Lok Sabha elections. Had they not attended the House proceedings, they would have been pulled up by their party in that case.

INSULT TO PRESIDENT?

Mitra went on to say that such MPs had demeaned the President of India who had nominated them by bringing the Upper House to disrepute by their behaviour.

Rajya Sabha MP Rajiv Chandrashekhar said nomination of eminent personalities was an honour that the President and the people of the country give to someone. He said he doesn't demand resignation of the absentee nominated MPs but that they should come to the House more often.

Senior journalist and former Rajya Sabha nominated MP HK Dua said members like Rekha and Sachin should not feel happy about the situation. "They should not have accepted the responsibility," he said.

However, lyricist and another former nominated Rajya Sabha MP Javed Akhtar said Rekha and Sachin might have been "arm-twisted" to accept the nomination.

Javed also said, "They would have been told that there was no need to participate. People are forced to accept such positions," he said and added that the political parties which had nominated them should be questioned.

Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar said there was no need for raising any hue and cry. He said the matter should be raised on proper forum. He said the matter can be taken up in committees of the Rajya Sabha.

Sociologist Dipankar Gupta said rules should be changed in the case of nominated members. He suggested that these MPs should be given a one year term. They should be asked to leave if they do not attend the House or do not participate regularly.

SACHIN'S ATTENDANCE IS 5 PERCENT

For the record, Rekha's attendance in the Rajya Sabha has been around 5 per cent while that of Sachin has been 8 per cent in the last five years. Both of them were nominated in 2012 by the previous Congress-led UPA government. Their attendance is far below the national average of 78 per cent.

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The lack of attendance of nominated members is not a new phenomenon. While some like Dua, Mitra and Akhtar have an impressive record, the participation of singer Lata Mangeshkar and the late painter MF Hussain as nominated Rajya Sabha members had left much to be desired.

Defending Rekha and Sachin, Congress' Rajya Sabha MP Renuka Chaudhary said they were contributing in their own way. Another Congress leader Raijv Shukla said the matter was being raised unnecessarily as there are several regular non-performer MPs. He wished Sachin and Rekha were not targetted.

There are almost 12 distinguished persons from the field of knowledge, science art and social service nominated to the Upper house.

This includes Sachin Tendulkar, Rekha, Anu Aga, Sambhaji Chhatrapati, Swapan Dasgupta, Roopa Ganguly, Narendra Jadhav, M C Mary Kom, K Parasaran, Gopi Suresh,Subramanian Swamy and KTS Tulsi.

Also read: Rekha, Sachin Tendulkar among top Rajya Sabha absentees. Shouldn't they resign, asks SP leader

Watch the video : No time for country: Should Rekha, Sachin Tendulkar be given notice to vacate Rajya Sabha seats?