Kolkata: The disciplinary committee of the Trinamool Congress may take action against some MLAs who remained absent during the Assembly session ignoring the party’s ‘three- line whip’ of compulsory attendance.
The Parliamentary party of the TMC had issued a whip asking all its MLAs to be present during the last two days (Wednesday and Thursday) of the Budget session. On Wednesday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was present in the House and took part in important discussions. On that day, few MLAs were absent. However, on the last day the whip was flouted with around 50 MLAs remaining absent.
“We will check and verify the assembly records on Monday. Accordingly, a list of absentee MLAs will be prepared. The matter will be then forwarded to our disciplinary committee for further action,” said Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, state Parliamentary Affairs minister who is the chairman of the party’s disciplinary committee.
On Monday, Chattopadhyay along with TMC’s chief whip Nirmal Ghosh will finalise the list of the absentees. Sources said Ghosh’s department in the Assembly has already compiled a list. Some important Bills associated with the Budget and appropriation of funds were tabled in the Assembly and TMC demanded full attendance of its MLAs in case the Opposition demanded voting for passing of the Bills.
TMC chairperson Mamata Banerjee held a meeting with party MLAs at the Assembly premises before the Budget session, warning that MLAs who missed three consecutive days of an ongoing session will receive a show-cause notice on the fourth day. She had expressed displeasure over the poor attendance despite her earlier directives urging regular participation during sessions.