New Delhi: Absence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was raised in the Lok Sabha when the House was in the middle of voting on the Constitution Amendment Bill that seeks to provide constitutional validity to National Commission for Backward Classes.
After the reply of Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot on The Constitution (123rd Amendment) Bill 2017, Tariq Anwar (NCP) asked, "Where is the Prime Minister? It is an important Bill?"
To this, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the Prime Minister could not attend the House because of the visit of Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
"As you know that Australian Prime Minister is here, so he (PM) could not come to the House," she said.
The House passed Bill that also seeks to insert a new article 342A to provide that the President by public notification specify the socially and educationally backward classes which shall for the purposes of the Constitution be deemed to be socially and educationally backward classes.
