NEW DELHI: The BJP is unlikely to renominate 12 MPs to the financial parliamentary committees because of their poor attendance record in the meetings of these panel.
Among those whose names could be dropped includes suspended BJP MP Kirti Azad, Varun Gandhi, Vinod Khanna, SS Ahluwalia, Nand Kumar Chauhan, Om Birla, Ramesh Pokhriyal, Sanjay Jaiswal, Ganesh Singh, Dushyant Singh.
Apart from the standing committees where all the MPs get nominated, each political party nominates its MPs to the prestigious financial panels like Public Accounts Committee, Estimates Committee and Committee on Public Undertakings.
While refusing to give details, Parliamentary Affairs Minister and senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu said members are nominated to Parliamentary Committees based on the time they are able to give to such panels. He said it is a routine exercise to nominate members to parliamentary panels.
The matter had also figured in BJP’s parliamentary party meeting also where MPs were asked not to skip the standing committee meetings. “MPs were also asked to not skip standing committee meetings and the party gave a veiled warning to the truant members, saying if they do not attend them regularly, then it will reconsider their membership to these committees when the time comes,” source said.
The one-year term of the three financial committees is coming to an end on April 30 before which either new members will be elected or nominated to them. Parliamentary sources said actor-turned politician Khanna and former cricketer Azad (Jha) are unlikely to be nominated by the BJP to the Estimates Committee headed by party veteran Murli Manohar Joshi.
Similarly, Dushyant Singh may not be renominated to the
Public Accounts Committee headed by Congress leader K V Thomas, the sources said. Nand Kumar Singh Chauhan and Varun Gandhi may not find a place in the Committee of Public Undertakings headed by BJP senior Shanta Kumar.
"Every member (from Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha), be it nominated or Independent, is a member of at least two Parliamentary committees," explained a government functionary to underline the fact that a member dropped from one committee will find a place in other panel.
Meanwhile in the BJP’s parliamentary party meeting, top BJP brass today asked party MPs to publicise the "pro-poor" and "pro-farmer" aspects of the budget.
The party's aggressive nationalist stand on the JNU row also found a mention in the Parliamentary Party meet, which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and almost all top ministers, with Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu speaking about Congress' "self-goals" and asking members to highlight the BJP's commitment to "national interest".