Mithun Chakraborty’s Long Absence In Rajya Sabha Is Dragging Him Into Trouble

Rajya Sabha members questioned the long absence of actor and Trinamool Congress member Mithun Chakraborty from the house on Tuesday.  Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien read out an application from Mithun requesting for leave on health grounds and he said that he is unable to attend sittings due to his health issues.

However, the Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agrawal objected the supporting reason and said that there should be cap according to which leaves can be defined on how much leave one person can take on health grounds.

Agarwal said that in every session they receive a letter from Mithun that he is unable to attend the sitting at the house due to his health issues. There should be a limit to this facility so that it cannot be misused.

Aggarwal stated,” There should be some limit on this… It is fine if a member is unwell, but if a member does this in every session, it is a misuse of a facility“.

Another Trinamool Congress member Sukhendu Shekhar Roy defended Mithun and said that he is sick from a long time and also submitted the medical reports. He requested the house to consider the sick application of Mithun.

Kurien stated that he cannot deny believing when a member says he is ill.

“The chair cannot disbelieve when a member says he is sick. Prima facie, chair has to accept it. If it is proved otherwise, we can see what we can do,” he added.

Mithun’s sick application was however accepted after a debate. The chair can announce a seat vacated if the member remains absent from the sittings for 60 consecutive days. According to the record, Mithun has only 10 percent attendance. He also not participated in any debate so far and he never asked any question.

26 April, 2016
Avni S. Singh