BJP fires MPs: 10 including Kirti Azad, Varun Gandhi to be replaced from panels for low attendance

Kirti Azad, who has been suspended from BJP after his attack on Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Varun Gandhi and Vinod Khanna are unlikely to be renominated to prestigious parliamentary financial committees including the PAC.

The ruling party is unlikely to renominate at least 10 of its members to these committees in view of their “poor attendance”, party sources said.

While refusing to give details, Parliamentary Affairs Minister and senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu said members are nominated to Parliamentary Committees based on the time they are able to give to such panels.

He said it is a routine exercise to nominate members to parliamentary panels.

The one-year term of the three financial committees—Public Accounts Committee, Estimates Committee and Committee on Public Undertakings is coming to an end on April 30 before which either new members will be elected or nominated to them.

Parliamentary sources said actor-turned politician Khanna and former cricketer Azad (Jha) are unlikely to be nominated by the BJP to the Estimates Committee headed by party veteran Murli Manohar Joshi.

Similarly, Dushyant Singh may not be renominated to the Public Accounts Committee headed by Congress leader K V Thomas, the sources said.

Nand Kumar Singh Chauhan and Varun Gandhi may not find a place in the Committee of Public Undertakings headed by BJP senior Shanta Kumar.

“Every member (from Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha), be it nominated or Independent, is a member of at least two Parliamentary committees,” explained a government functionary to underline the fact that a member dropped from one committee will find a place in other panel.

While the Estimates Committee has 30 Lok Sabha members, the PAC has 22 members -- 15 from Lok Sabha and seven from Rajya Sabha. The Committee on Public Undertakings too has 22 members -- 15 from the lower house and seven from the upper house.