Nitin Gadkari, Scindia Among 20 BJP MPs Absent During 'One Nation, One Election' Debate: Sources

The absence of so many MPs has irked BJP leadership since the party had issued a whip asking all its members to be present in the House, sources said. However, a number of MPs had informed in advance.

The BJP is inquiring into the absence of party's 20 MPs during the voting on the introduction of the bill for simultaneous elections, popularly know as 'One Nation, One Election' Bill in Lok Sabha on Tuesday. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Giriraj Singh and CR Patil were among the absent MPs, ANI reported citing sources.

The other MPs are Shantanu Thakur, Jagdambika Pal, BY Raghavendra, Vijay Baghel, Udayraje Bhonsale, Jagannath Sarkar, Jayant Kumar Roy, V Somanna and Chintamani Maharaj, the sources added.

The absence of so many MPs has irked BJP leadership since the party had issued a whip asking all its members to be present in the House, sources said. However, they added that a number of MPs had informed in advance about their absence due to various personal and work-related reasons. Union Minister CR Patil was engaged with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's public event in Rajasthan, the sources said.

"We are definitely looking into the reasons behind their absence. Quite a few had genuine reasons," a senior leader said.

'One Nation, One Election' Bill Introduced In Lok Sabha

The Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha after a nearly 90-minute debate. As many as 269 MPs voted in favour of the Bill and 198 against it. Amid a fiery debate in the House, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal asserted that the legislation would not tamper with the powers enjoyed by states. Meghwal said he would move a resolution referring the Bills to a joint committee of Parliament.

Congress member Manish Tewari opposed the introduction of the bills and termed the move an assault on the basic structure doctrine that stipulates certain features of the Constitution are beyond the amending power of Parliament.

"One of the essential features is federalism and the structure of our democracy. The bills assault the basic structure of the Constitution and exceed the legislative competence of this House," Tewari, a former Union minister, said.

Samajwadi Party member Dharmendra Yadav said the measure to introduce "one nation, one election" by the BJP was an attempt to bring dictatorship in the country.