BJP to send notices to MPs absent for ONOE Bill

New Delhi: The BJP will send notices to its MPs who were not present in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday during the introduction of government's flagship "One Country One Election Bill", sources said.

More than 20 MPs were absent during the division of the House, the sources said. The party had earlier sent a three-line whip to its Lok Sabha members, directing them to be present in the House. The absence of the MPs was not a roadblock to the two Bills meant to amend the Constitution and permit simultaneous parliamentary and state elections.

But it did provide ammunition to the Congress, which claimed it was evidence that the government did not have enough support on the issue. The bills were passed by simple majority, as required by the rulebook; 269 MPs voted in favour and 198 opposed it.