New Delhi: Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs V Muraleedharan on Monday clarified MEA's answer in Parliament on Palestinian group Hamas and said he should have been listed as the minister who replied to the question on the Palestinian group Hamas and not Meenakshi Lekhi.
Muraleedharan tabled a statement in the House on Monday, correcting the reply given on December 8 to an unstarred question by Kumbakudi Sudhakaran, MP, regarding the 'Declaration of Hamas as Terrorist Organization'.
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 organization.
On Friday, in a written reply to the Lok Sabha, the MEA said, "Designation of an organization as terrorist is covered under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and declaring any organization as terrorist is considered as per the provisions of the Act by the relevant government departments".
Taking to X (formerly known as Twitter), MoS MEA Meenakshi Lekhi said, "I have not signed any paper with this question and this answer…The inquiry will reveal the culprit.”