BJP president Amit Shah on Tuesday asked the party’s MPs to make sure they turn up in Parliament, so that bills are backed by as many lawmakers as possible. He noted that the Opposition has repeatedly insisted on a division, or recorded vote, while legislation is being passed.

What Shah told the parliamentary party

Shah was speaking at a meeting of the BJP parliamentary party, according to an account given to reporters by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi. He told MPs, Union ministers among them, that attendance at a two-day orientation programme the party is holding on August 3-4 was compulsory. Prime Minister Narendra Modi sat through the meeting without addressing it; he is due to speak at the programme, which will cover parliamentary rules and procedure as well as the party’s ideology.

Sources said after the meeting that Shah referred to Monday’s vote in the Lok Sabha on the motion to take up the National Medical Commission Bill, which was carried by 260 votes to 48. In his view, the margin should have been wider. The BJP has 303 Lok Sabha members of its own, and its allies add close to 50 more.

Senior BJP figures, Modi included, have often reminded party MPs of the need to attend the House, and the Prime Minister has at times made clear his unhappiness with absenteeism.

Bills passed and pending

Joshi said Parliament had cleared 15 bills so far in the session. Of the remainder:

• six had been passed by the Lok Sabha and were awaiting the Rajya Sabha’s approval;
• four had been passed by the Rajya Sabha and were awaiting the Lok Sabha’s approval;
• 11 more were still pending and would be introduced in both Houses shortly.

“We request parliamentarians to sit late so that all these bills could be passed,” Joshi said. The session opened on June 17 and was originally due to close on July 26, but it has now been extended until August 7. In Joshi’s assessment, history will record it among the most productive sessions of recent times.

See also: Bharatiya Janata Party and Lok Sabha members.

Originally published on 30 July 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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