Days after Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla asking for more floor time for the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe MPs from the ruling NDA coalition, an analysis reveals that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs elected from SC and ST seats have taken part in fewer Lok Sabha debates than the House average and than their own party colleagues.
Mr. Manjhi urged the Speaker to take steps to rectify the situation. The principal Opposition party Congress also recorded a gap, with MPs from SC seats averaging 19 against 23.38 for party peers. Congress MPs from ST seats averaged 24.42, above the 22.22 of their peers. In his letter dated September 16, Mr. Manjhi referred to an ‘NDA sansad samooh samvaad baithak’ (NDA MP group dialogue meeting) held at his residence on August 5.
He said BJP Lok Sabha MP Gajendra Singh Patel, who represents Khargone, a reserved tribal constituency in Madhya Pradesh, had pointed out that MPs from SC/ST communities were not being given adequate time to speak during discussions on important Bills in Parliament.
