A day after the government suffered a major embarrassment in the Rajya Sabha, where it could not ensure adequate strength of MPs to push a Bill conferring Constitutional status on the Backward Classes Commission, BJP President Amit Shah pulled up the absentee MPs which include five ministers.

While the ruling party rushed into damage control, accusing the Congress of putting “minority appeasement over OBC rights”, the BJP President was clearly not going to let the errant MPs off so easily.

He made his displeasure known at the weekly meeting of the BJP Parliamentary Party on Tuesday. Each of the absentee MPs will be asked for an explanation. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was not present during the party meeting, is likely to ask for a credible explanation from the MPs.

Altogether, 31 MPs from the ruling NDA coalition were absent during the vote on the Opposition’s amendment in the Constitution (123rd Amendment) Bill to provide for appointment of all five members of the Commission from the OBC community, including a woman and a person from the minority.

74 versus 56 votes

The division of the vote on the amendment carried 74 Opposition MPs voting for, and 52 against, reflecting on the lack of numbers on the government’s side. The BJP’s standalone strength in the Rajya Sabha is 56 while the ruling block enjoys the support of 88 members, including 10 JD(U) MPs.

Of the 31 absent NDA MPs, 13 belonged to the BJP, including five top ministers – Dharmendra Pradhan, Piyush Goyal, Nirmala Sitharaman, Smriti Irani and Ravi Shankar Prasad.

“When the party issues a whip, members must be present in the House. The party president has taken a serious view of the absence of members. He said it should not have happened and must not be repeated,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said.

But BJP blames Congress

While the BJP President reprimanded the MPs for their absence, the party put up a brave front, accusing the Congress of not letting an important Constitutional amendment pass because it favours minority rights over the OBCs. This is because the amendment pushed by the Congress provides for appointment of all five members of the Commission from the OBC community, including a woman and a person from the minority community.

“The Congress’s obsession with minority rights has put it always in opposition to the welfare of the OBCs. Why else would it delay a legislation which confers Constitutional status on the Backward Classes Commission?” BJP MP Bhupendra Yadav told a media conference.