A Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology (IT) could not meet on Wednesday due to lack of quorum after BJP leaders refused to sign the attendance register. The meeting was scheduled to discuss ‘’Citizens’ data security and privacy’’ and the Pegasus issue.
In a related development, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey moved a privilege motion against Shashi Tharoor, chairman of the committee, seeking his removal as the Chairman of the IT panel. This comes a day after BJP MPs boycotted a meeting called by Tharoor on Tuesday.
The BJP members, including Nishikant Dubey, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Sanjay Seth, and Locket Chatterjee, went to the committee meeting but did not sign the attendance register after which the meeting had to be called off because in the Opposition camp only nine MPs were present. The quorum requires 10 MPs to be present.
Among the MPs from the Opposition present for the meeting were Sahib Nasir Hussain and Karti Chidambaram from the Congress, T Sumathy of the DMK and Mohua Moitra of the TMC. The 32 members panel has a majority of members from the BJP.
“The officials who had been called to appear before the committee during the meeting had informed the committee of their unavailability well in advance due to the ongoing Parliament proceedings,” a person familiar with the matter said.
After moving the privilege motion, Dubey said it is shocking that the Opposition did not allow Parliament to function but wanted the issues to be discussed at the committee meetings which the Government is ready to discuss in the House. Dubey said until there is a decision on the notice, no meetings of the committee should be held. “All BJP MPs boycotted the IT committee meeting because of Shashi Tharoor’s personal agenda,” he said.
The notice request given to the Lok Sabha Speaker reads, “Needless to say that this ‘gentleman’ has not only disrobed the democratic functioning of an august Committee but also exhibited an extreme high level of sycophancy towards his political masters, who still have a false notion of ruling our country and its democratic institutions by way of destroying them bit-by-bit and also creating a ruckus through their cronies like the present Chairperson of the Committee on Information Technology.”
Dubey’s notice adds, “This goes on to show that Dr Shashi Tharoor himself decides the ‘Agenda’ of the sitting of the Committee on Information Technology and soon thereafter breaks this news not with the Members of the Committee but to the media and his Twitter handle.”