NEW DELHI: The war of words between the BJP and Congress Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor escalated on Thursday with the latter terming the developments taking place in the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Technology (IT) as a “ping pong match”.
"I am very disappointed that some elements on some issues have chosen to reduce this committee to some sort of a ping pong match which I don't believe is in the spirit of Parliament or parliamentary committee," he told mediapersons.
Without naming anyone, he was referring to the reports of BJP MP Nishikant Dubey moving a "privilege motion" against him.
Tharoor said the motion had 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.
However, Dubey hit back and said the Congress MP was unaware of the rules and had gone into "frustration" as he was focussed more on becoming the leader of his party in Lok Sabha in place of Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
Official sources said Dubey has moved a "privilege notice" in the speaker's office against Tharoor for allegedly misusing his power as the head of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Technology. It would be for speaker Om Birla to decide the fate of the notice.
The panel that was set to question government officials on Wednesday on the Pegasus spyware issue was postponed due to lack of quorum.
BJP members of the panel who were present in the meeting room did not sign the attendance register in protest leading to a lack of quorum required for holding the meeting.
Tharoor, who heads the committee, said he was very disappointed with the development. He took a swipe at the BJP leaders saying "some elements" have chosen to reduce it to a "ping pong match" that is not in the spirit of Parliament.
Asked about divisions among the panel's members along political lines, the former union minister noted that when he was the chairman of the parliamentary committee on external affairs for five years where its members worked in an extremely amicable and cooperative spirit. That committee also had a strong BJP majority, he added.
(With PTI inputs)
