NEW DELHI: The external affairs ministry on Saturday clarified that a technical correction will be made mentioning V Muraleedharan‘s name as the minister who replied to a Parliament question on the designation of Hamas.
MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi made the clarification hours after Union minister Meenakshi Lekhisaid she did not approve any answer to the question.Both Lekhi and Muraleedharan are ministers of state in the MEA.
Responding to a post on X, Lekhi on Saturday said she did not approve any answer to the question and said an “inquiry will reveal the culprit”.
“We have noted that Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 980 answered on December 8 needs a technical correction in terms of reflecting V Muraleedharan as the minister of state replying to the Parliament question. This is being suitably undertaken,” Bagchi said.
The written answer to the unstarred question number 980, uploaded on the Lok Sabha’s website, was attributed to Lekhi.
“You have been misinformed as I have not signed any paper with this question and this answer,” Lekhi said on X in response to a post on the microblogging site.
The question titled “Declaration of Hamas as Terrorist Organisation” was put out by Congress MP Kumbakudi Sudhakaran. Sudhakaran, who represents Kannur in the Lok Sabha, had asked whether the government has any proposal to declare Hamas a terrorist organisation and if so, the details thereof.
“Designation of an organisation as terrorist is covered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and declaring any organisation as terrorist is considered as per the provisions of the Act by the relevant government departments,” the answer mentioned.
Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said on X that “is she (Lekhi) then claiming it is a forged response, if yes this is a serious breach and violation of the rules that prevail. Would be grateful for a clarification from @MEAIndia”.
“Asking questions that were submitted through someone else led to expulsion of an MP yesterday (Friday), today a minister denies that reply to a PQ (Parliament Question) was approved by her, shouldn’t that be investigated too? Shouldn’t it lead to seeking accountability, however innocuous the response from the ministry of external affairs?” she asked on X.
“Who logged in for you?” Congress leader Amitabh Dubey asked in response to Lekhi’s post on X.
MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi made the clarification hours after Union minister Meenakshi Lekhisaid she did not approve any answer to the question.Both Lekhi and Muraleedharan are ministers of state in the MEA.
Responding to a post on X, Lekhi on Saturday said she did not approve any answer to the question and said an “inquiry will reveal the culprit”.
“We have noted that Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 980 answered on December 8 needs a technical correction in terms of reflecting V Muraleedharan as the minister of state replying to the Parliament question. This is being suitably undertaken,” Bagchi said.
The written answer to the unstarred question number 980, uploaded on the Lok Sabha’s website, was attributed to Lekhi.
“You have been misinformed as I have not signed any paper with this question and this answer,” Lekhi said on X in response to a post on the microblogging site.
The question titled “Declaration of Hamas as Terrorist Organisation” was put out by Congress MP Kumbakudi Sudhakaran. Sudhakaran, who represents Kannur in the Lok Sabha, had asked whether the government has any proposal to declare Hamas a terrorist organisation and if so, the details thereof.
“Designation of an organisation as terrorist is covered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and declaring any organisation as terrorist is considered as per the provisions of the Act by the relevant government departments,” the answer mentioned.
Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said on X that “is she (Lekhi) then claiming it is a forged response, if yes this is a serious breach and violation of the rules that prevail. Would be grateful for a clarification from @MEAIndia”.
“Asking questions that were submitted through someone else led to expulsion of an MP yesterday (Friday), today a minister denies that reply to a PQ (Parliament Question) was approved by her, shouldn’t that be investigated too? Shouldn’t it lead to seeking accountability, however innocuous the response from the ministry of external affairs?” she asked on X.
“Who logged in for you?” Congress leader Amitabh Dubey asked in response to Lekhi’s post on X.
