NEW DELHI: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who heads the Parliamentary panel on IT, took a dig at BJP members opposing his decision to question government officials on the Pegasus row.
He said “some elements” have chosen to reduce it to a “ping pong match” that goes against the spirit of Parliament. Asked about reports of BJP MP Nishikant Dubey moving a privilege motion against him, Tharoor said it has no validity. “No constituted procedure was followed in introducing the motion that requires the Speaker to get the leave of the House before it can be introduced,” said Tharoor.
Dubey hit back, saying Tharoor was unaware of the rules. He said the Congress MP was ‘frustrated’ for not being appointed the party’s leader in Lok Sabha in place of Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. Dubey is learned to have moved a ‘privilege notice’ against Tharoor for allegedly misusing his powers as the head of the IT panel. The fate of the notice will be decided by Speaker Om Birla.
The panel was scheduled to question government officials on Wednesday on the Pegasus spyware issue. The meeting did not take place due to the lack of members required to form the quorum. BJP members of the panel did not sign the attendance register.
Tharoor expressed disappointment at the development. “Some elements on some issues have chosen to reduce this committee to some sort of a ping pong match which I don’t believe is in the spirit of Parliament or a Parliamentary committee,” he said.
Asked about differences among the panel members along political lines, he said that when he was the chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on External Affairs for five years, members worked in an amicable manner and cooperated. This, despite the committee having a strong BJP majority, Tharoor added.