Can nominated members continue to remain absent from RS, asks Naresh Agarwal

NEW DELHI: Can nominated members of Rajya Sabha, like cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar and Bollywood actress Rekha, continue to remain absent from the House and should they not resign if they are not interested?

This was a question put by Naresh Agarwal ( SP) who said he has not seen the nominated members including eminent cricketer and actress attend the proceedings in this session.

He raised the issue through a 'point-of-order' when the House met for the day.

"If they are not coming, does it mean they are not interested and if they are not interested, shouldn't they resign," he asked.

Deputy Chairman P J Kurien said this was not a point of order and Agarwal could use his good office to convince the nominated members to be present in the House for a few days.

Agarwal said if the Chair so suggests, he will write to the members on the issue.

As many as 12 persons with special knowledge or practical experience on matters like literature, science, art and social service are nominated to the Upper House.

Besides Tendulkar and Rekha, other nominated members include Anu Aga, Sambhaji Chhatrapati, Swapan Dasgupta, Roopa Ganguly, Narendra Jadhav, M C Mary Kom, K Parasaran, Gopi Suresh, Subramanian Swamy and KTS Tulsi.