Home Latest Despite BJP’s objections, Shashi Tharoor retained as head of Parliamentary panel on IT

Despite BJP’s objections, Shashi Tharoor retained as head of Parliamentary panel on IT

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Despite BJP’s objections, Shashi Tharoor retained as head of Parliamentary panel on IT

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Congress MP Shashi Tharoor was appointed as the head of the Parliamentary Committee on Information Technology, news agency ANI reported, despite objections by the members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The previous committees’ tenure had ended on September 12. Tharoor’s chairmanship of the previous standing committee had been repeatedly criticised by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey.

As reported by The Indian Express earlier, Dubey in July had moved a “privilege notice” in the Lok Sabha Speaker’s office against Tharoor for allegedly misusing his power as the head of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Technology.

The IT panel was expected to discuss the Pegasus spyware issue and had called officials of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Ministry of Home Affairs, and Department of Telecommunication on the subject ‘Citizens’ Data Security and Privacy’. However, the meeting could not take place as 10 BJP members present did not sign the attendance register, and hence ensured lack of quorum.

However, Tharoor had told reporters that Dubey’s motion has no “validity” as 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.

In a separate letter written to Speaker Om Birla, Dubey had alleged that Tharoor violated rules of the committee as “he has become a harbinger of all vicious activities”.

Yet again in August, following the Congress leader’s notice to Facebook asking it to appear before the IT panel, Dubey had moved a notice for breach of privilege against committee chairman.

“Tharoor has surpassed all limits of decency, ethics and basic tenets of Parliamentary procedure and practice vis-a-vis smooth functioning of Parliamentary Committee by way of committing a grave breach of privilege, not only in the capacity of an individual honourable Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha but also remaining in the exalted position of Chairperson of one of the most important departmentally related Standing Committees, viz, Information Technology,” Dubey had said in his notice.

Meanwhile, BJP member Sushil Kumar Modi has been appointed the new chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice. Congress MP Anand Sharma has been retained as head of the Parliamentary panel on Home Affairs and Jairam Ramesh of the panel on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change.

YSR Congress MP V Vijayasai Reddy will again head the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce. Similarly, TMC member Sudip Bandyopadhyay has been reappointed as the head of the panel on Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution and BJD member Bhartruhari Mahtab of the panel on Labour.

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