Shiv Sena (UBT) upset at not being included in Par panel on 'ONOE' bills

Shiv Sena (UBT), which is part of the opposition INDIA bloc, has nine MPs in the Lower House.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) is learnt to have expressed its unhappiness to the Speaker’s office and the parliament affairs ministry over none of its members being included in the list of 21 Lok Sabha MPs, who are expected to be part of the parliamentary panel that will scrutinise the bills on simultaneous elections.

Shiv Sena (UBT), which is part of the opposition INDIA bloc, has nine MPs in the Lower House. A Shiv Sena (UBT) MP said parties with two, seven, and eight members have been included in the proposed joint committee of Parliament on the two “One Nation One Election” bills but not his.

“We have conveyed our unhappiness over the matter to the Speaker and the parliamentary affairs minister,” he said and expressed hope that one of the party MPs may be included when a motion to this effect is tabled in the House, likely on Friday, the last scheduled day of the ongoing winter session. The party wants its MP Anil Desai to be part of the joint committee.

The Lok Sabha’s list of business for Thursday had included the names of 21 MPs to be part of the committee, a motion on whose constitution was to be moved by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal. However, unprecedented fracas involving the ruling BJP-led NDA members and opposition parties on Parliament premises on Thursday, coupled with both sides continuing protests over alleged insults to B R Ambedkar, resulted in Lok Sabha’s adjournment for the day without any business being taken up.

Former Union ministers Anurag Thakur and P P Chaudhary from the BJP, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra of the Congress are among the 21 Lok Sabha members proposed for the panel.

One member each of the RLD and Janasena Party, both BJP allies and having two MPs in the House, figures among the 21 MPs.