After minister Lekhi refuses to sign response to Parliament question on Hamas, MEA responds

MEA’s clarification came after a document erroneously showed Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi as the one answering questions on whether India plans to designate Hamas a terror group instead of Union Minister V Muraleedharan.

Both Lekhi and Muraleedharan are ministers of state in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

In response to the document, Lekhi refuted having signed the reply to the Parliament question.

On her official X handle, Lekhi tagged Union Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and the Prime Minister's Office and wrote, "You have been misinformed as I have not signed any paper with this question and this answer Dr S Jaishankar, PMO India."

Hours after Lekhi's denial, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi issued a statement saying, "We have noted that Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 980 answered on 8 December 2023 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."

Congress MP Kumbakudi Sudhakaran inquired if India was going to designate  Hamas as a terrorist organization in India.

The question also sought information on whether the Israeli government had made any such requests to the central government.

"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.

When pointed out that both the Lok Sabha and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) websites attributed the answer to the question in her name, Lekhi said an "inquiry will reveal the culprit".