The External Affairs Ministry on Monday issued a statement in the Lok Sabha correcting the name of the minister who replied to a Parliament question on the designation of Hamas on December 8. A political row broke out on December 9 after Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi said she had not approved a question tabled in the Lok Sabha the previous day on declaring Hamas a terrorist organisation, prompting the government to issue a clarification that it was a “procedural error”.
As opposition parties latched onto Lekhi’s remarks and described the incident as a “serious breach and violation of rules”, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a statement on December 10, saying the unstarred question “needs a technical correction in terms of reflecting Shri V Muraleedharan as the Minister of State replying to the Parliament question”. “This is being suitably undertaken,” the ministry had added.
“You have been misinformed as I have not signed any paper with this question and this answer,” Lekhi said in response to a post on X on the issue.
On Monday, Muraleedharan laid a statement in the House, which was included in the supplementary agenda, “Correcting the reply given on December 8 to unstarred question number 980 by Shri Kumbakudi Sudhakaran, MP, regarding ‘declaration of Hamas as terrorist organisation’.”
Ministers give an oral reply to starred questions. A written reply is given to unstarred questions.
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