Lekhi denies answering LS question; MEA clarifies after Oppn seeks probe
MEA clarifies that a technical correction was being made mentioning V Muraleedharan’s name as the minister who replied to the question on designation of Hamas
Hours after the Opposition called for a probe into who approved the answer to a question in the Lok Sabha on declaring Hamas a terrorist organisation, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said a technical correction was being made in the records. The written answer to the question, uploaded on the Lok Sabha’s website, was attributed to Lekhi.
The unstarred question No. 980, titled “Declaration of Hamas as Terrorist Organisation”, was put by Congress MP Kumbakudi Sudhakaran. The question was answered on Friday (December 8) and it figures on the list of unstarred questions on the Lok Sabha website.
Sudhakaran, who represents Kannur in the Lok sabha, had asked whether the government had any proposal to declare Hamas a terrorist organisation in India, and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefore. He had also asked whether the government of Israel has raised any demand with the government of India to declare Hamas a terrorist organisation, 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 to the question mentioned.
Lekhi’s denial
Both the Lok Sabha and the External Affairs Ministry websites had the question mentioned in the name of Union minister Meenakshi Lekhi. However, Lekhi on Saturday said she did not approve any answer to such a question on declaring Hamas a terrorist organisation.
“You have been misinformed as I have not signed any paper with this question and this answer,” the Minister of State for External Affairs said in response to a post on X.
Hours later, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi clarified that a technical correction was being made mentioning V Muraleedharan’s name as the minister who replied to the Parliament question on the designation of Hamas. Both Lekhi and Muraleedharan are ministers of state in the MEA.
Oppn seeks probe
Earlier, in the morning, the Opposition had sought a probe to know who had answered the question if Lekhi had not. Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi posted on X: “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 (Mahua Moitra) yesterday, 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,” Chaturvedi said on X.
“Who logged in for you?” Congress leader Amitabh Dubey asked in response to Lekhi’s post on X. To that, Lekhi said an “inquiry will reveal the culprit”.
Bagchi’s response came later on media queries about the matter. “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.
(With agency inputs)