At least 16 Rajya Sabha MPs, including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, have informed the Upper House that they will not be attending the Monsoon Session of the Parliament.
Of this, three will not be skipping the whole session but for some days.
On Wednesday, the House approved leave for 14 MPs while on Monday it had sanctioned leave for two MPs -- Trinamool Congress' Sukhendu Shekhar Roy and Subhashish Chakrabarty.
Singh, Chidambaram and Oscar Fernandes (Congress), Anmbumani Ramadoss (PMK), Manas Ranjan Bhunia (Trinamool), S D Gupta (AAP), Parimal Nathwani (independent), Roy and Chakrabarty are among the MPs who will be skipping the entire session.
Nominated MP Narendra Jadhav sought leave from September 15 to October 1 while AIADMK floor leader A Navaneethakrishnan will be absent between September 14 and 24. Banda Prakash (TRS) has sought leave between September 14 and 26.
All of them except Roy has sought leave on health grounds. In his letter seeking leave, Roy had cited the Covid-19 situation and the guidelines for phased re-opening on vulnerable persons, including those above 65 years who are advised not to venture out except for essential services.
On Monday, Naidu said, "Attending Parliament is an essential responsibility. But, if any particular member, because of health reasons, desires to be absent, and they have written to me, I am getting all of them positively approved because it is a human problem."
Around 10 Rajya Sabha MPs have also tested positive for Covid-19 in the past few days. (ENDS)