The prolonged absence of cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and Bollywood actress Rekha from Rajya Sabha created uproar in the House on Friday.
Members were miffed as Tendulkar attended the House for only three days last year and Rekha was present for just seven days, since their nomination two years ago. The duo invited criticism from leaders of all political parties.
The last time Tendulkar attended the session was on December 13, 2013, while Rekha came on February
19, 2014.
However, Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari said there was no violation of the Constitution as Tendulkar had been absent just for 40 days and Rekha less than that.
“As per Article 104 of the Constitution, if a member is absent from either House of Parliament for a period of 60 days then the seat is considered vacant. In case of Sachin Tendulkar, he has not attended Parliament for 40 days whereas Rekha’s absence is less than this,” he observed.
Under attack over not attending the House, Tendulkar said there was a medical emergency that kept him away from Delhi and that he did not mean disrespect to any institution. “My absence in Delhi has been discussed rather too much. I don’t mean to disrespect any institution. Just to let you know, my elder brother Ajit had to undergo a bypass surgery and I had to be by his side,” he said hours after members in the Rajya Sabha raked up his prolonged absence from the House and demanded his participation in its business.
He was addressing a sports function at Vigyan Bhavan in Delhi.
CPI(M) member P Rajeev raised the issue and wanted to know whether they had sought permission for it.
Kurien said Tendulkar was nominated to the Upper House in April 2012 and had attended the session for three days. “last time he had come to the House on December 13, 2013,” he said.
Reacting to the prolonged absence of the celebrities, lyricist and scriptwriter and a nominated member of the Upper House Javed Akhtar said: “Membership of Parliament is not a trophy. Sachin should come to Parliament.”
Mentioning that both Tendulkar and Rekha have not taken a single MP privilege, Rajeev Shukla said: “They should attend Parliament more frequently.” “I think Sachin should attend Parliament. When he was playing cricket, he never missed a practice, so now that he has retired, he should come to Parliament,” said the BJP’s Kirti Azad, also a former cricketer.