‘Making technical corrections’: MEA on Hamas question in LS

New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Saturday said that technical corrections are being made as MoS V Muraleedharan should have been listed as the official replying to a parliamentary question on whether to declare Hamas as a terrorist organisation.

The clarification from MEA came after Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi said she did not approve any answer to a question in the Lok Sabha on declaring Hamas a terrorist organisation.

Following the controversy in response to media queries regarding Lok Sabha Unstarred Question number 980, MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said: "We have noted that Lok Sabha Unstarred Question number 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 added.

"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.

The unstarred question number 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," Lekhi had said in the reply on X.

Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi on X said: In the tweet below, Meenakshi Lekhi ji is denying and disassociating a response attributed to her. She says has no idea who drafted this as response to a PQ since she didn’t sign it. Is she 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."