RS secretariat refutes reports of VP Naidu skipping event on Nehru's birth anniversary

Responding to reports over the absence of Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu at an event in Parliament on the occasion of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's birth anniversary, the Rajya Sabha Secretariat informed that the VP never attended such ceremonies organised in the Central Hall of Parliament as a matter of convention.

"It was misleading to suggest that Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu skipped the ceremony on November 14. The misleading reports have caused deep distress to the Vice President. He was out of Delhi yesterday paid tributes to the former PM Jawaharlal Nehru," RS Secretariat said.

Oppn questions Vice Prez Naidu's absence

Opposition parties, especially Congress, on Sunday questioned the absence of Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu, Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla and union ministers absence at an event marking the birth anniversary of India's first PM Jawaharlal Nehru at Central hall of Parliament,

Rajya Sabha Chairman Naidu was in Andhra Pradesh's Nellore to attend by 20th-anniversary celebrations of Swarna Bharat Trust in Venkatachalam while Lok Sabha Speaker Birla was in Rajasthan's Jaipur to address a special session for children in the state's legislative assembly to mark Children's Day.

Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh called the absence of presiding officers and union ministers "atrocious", while TMC's Derek O'Brien attacked the Modi government. Officials pointed out that the LS speaker has always attended such functions whenever he is in the national capital, though there is no convention for him and Rajya Sabha Chairman to mandatorily attend these functions.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mapanna Mallikarjun Kharge, Deputy Leader of Opposition Anand Sharma, along with other party leaders took part in an event in the Parliament Hall, where the birth anniversaries of personalities whose portraits are on display are traditionally marked by top leaders by offering floral tributes.

Taking to the micro-blogging site, Congress' chief whip in Rajya Sabha Jairam Ramesh said, "Extraordinary scene today in Parliament at the traditional function to mark the birth anniversary of those whose portraits adorn the Central Hall. Speaker Lok Sabha absent. Chairman Rajya Sabha absent. Not a single Minister present. Can it get more atrocious than this?!" Meanwhile, a Lok Sabha press release said that Union Minister for State for MSME Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma attended the event.