Under fire for his alleged involvement in the Kochi franchise of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor will on Friday give a statement on the issue in the Lok Sabha.
“The members are raising a particular issue. I assure them that the concerned minister will be asked to make the statement after the question hour. He will give his personal explanation in the house during the zero hour (which will begin after 12),” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal told the Lok Sabha amid noisy protests from Left and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs.
As the Lok Sabha resumed at 11 a.m. on Friday, a day after opposition parties cornered the government on the April 6 Dantewada massacre, opposition members rose to demand an explanation from Mr. Tharoor who is alleged to have misused his official position to help his friend Sunanda Pushkar get sweat equity worth Rs.70 crore in the IPL Kochi franchise.
The protesting MPs were demanding suspension of the question hour. Speaker Meira Kumar first tried to let the question hour continue as Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad was replying to questions. However, the MPs continued with their protests, forcing the speaker to adjourn the house till 12 noon.
