The panel’s Twitter questioning also triggered a war of words between the BJP and Congress, with former Minister Shashi Tharoor questioning his mandate and committee chair Meenakshi Lekhi responding that members of Congress were also part of the deliberations. . The panel ordered Twitter to submit an affidavit within a week as to why it took no action against the “offensive” tweets.
Even when Twitter said it would respond to the panel’s inquiries, Tharoor, who chairs the standing committee on information technology, asked who authorized the panel to address an issue unrelated to its mandate.
“Dear @M_Lekhi, to my knowledge, your committee was formed for consultations on the Data Protection Bill and its mandate is to report on the statutory provisions that continue in the bill. Could you clarify if you have assumed additional responsibilities and under whose authority? “Tharoor asked on Twitter.
“I expected better from someone who heads TI’s standing committee. His own colleague (MP Vivek Tankha) was present at the meeting and agreed with me on a public platform. Tharoor should consult with him before showing his lack of understanding. In any case, they must understand that the national interest is the most important thing. I am not interested in playing ping-ball between Congress and the BJP on these issues, ”Lekhi told TOI.
Tharoor’s question was shared by congressional MPs Karti Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh, who said the joint committee “had no jurisdiction” over the matter.
Lekhi, however, replied that the “national interest” prevailed over everything else. Lekhi said such public disputes “fit the agenda of people like Twitter,” who would rather escape scrutiny.
According to parliamentary tradition, the commissions consolidate the issues they will address after their constitution each year and do not deviate from them. However, the issue of data privacy has been addressed by both the TI standing committee and the joint committee.
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