Rekha's appearances in the Rajya Sabha have been rare
Highlights
- For GST, government reached out to all members in Rajya Sabha
- Government wanted support from Sachin Tendulkar, Rekha: sources
- Sources say government has been unable to contact Rekha
The government's mission to collect support for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill in the Rajya Sabha hit a wall with one elusive member, Rekha.
For the GST Bill debate in the Rajya Sabha today, floor managers of the ruling BJP reportedly reached out not just to political parties but also to nominated members like cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and movie star Rekha.
Sources say they failed to contact Rekha, who joined the Rajya Sabha as a nominated member in 2012.
Senior ministers were seen today in parliament soliciting advice from Congress leaders on how to touch base with the 61-year-old actor.
Rekha and Sachin were nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the Congress-led UPA government which lost power in 2014. In the past four years, their poor attendance has made more headlines than anything they have said or done as parliamentarians.
Rekha
attended the Budget session for the first time this year. Her blink and miss appearance failed to blunt criticism about celebrities not taking their role in parliament seriously.
Sachin Tendulkar's record is not much better and he was not seen when the house debated GST, but his vote came on Twitter.GST, which creates one national tax to replace a mesh of levies that differ from state to state, was cleared by the Rajya Sabha this evening after days of hard negotiation.
The BJP had ordered full attendance in the house in a whip issued to party MPs.