Meenakshi Lekhi questions wrong attribution on LS website; technical error, says MEA

Inquiry will reveal the culprit @DrSJaishankar @PMOIndia https://t.co/XPpfrlaUQ3

— Meenakashi Lekhi (@M_Lekhi) December 8, 2023

Later, the Ministry of External Affairs clarified that the question needed a technical correction in terms of reflecting V Muraleedharan as the Minister of State replying to the Parliament question, and it was being done. Both Lekhi and Muraleedharan are ministers of state in the MEA.

The unstarred question No 980, titled ‘Declaration of Hamas as Terrorist Organisation’, was put by Congress MP Kumbakudi Sudhakaran. “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 response uploaded on the Lok Sabha website on Friday said, attributing it to Lekhi, the Minister of State for External Affairs.

However, Lekhi denied the response, saying, “I have not signed any paper with this question and this answer.” She tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Foreign Minister S Jaishankar in her post. In another post, again tagging the PM and the EAM, she said, “Inquiry will reveal the culprit.”

The question was answered on Friday and it figured in the list of unstarred questions on the Lok Sabha website.

The controversy prompted the Opposition to call for a probe, comparing the matter to the Mahua Moitra episode wherein the Trinamool Congress MP was expelled on Friday. 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 MEA.”

“Asking questions that were submitted through someone else led to expulsion of an MP yesterday, today a minister denies that reply to a PQ (Parliament Question) was approved by her, shouldn’t that be investigated too?” Chaturvedi said. Congress leader Amitabh Dubey said, “Who logged in for you?”

On Saturday, Lekhi maintained that she had not signed any paper pertaining to the question on Hamas. “I have called the Foreign Secretary and sought an investigation into the matter, and action should be taken against those responsible for this breach.”

“How can something go up on the Lok Sabha website without the concerned minister’s signature,” she said. “If it has been uploaded on the Lok Sabha website, it must have come through MEA; I am hopeful the responsibility will be fixed soon.”

Replying to media queries over the question, External Affairs Ministry’s official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said: “We have noted that Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 980 answered on 8 December 2023 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.”