ROW HITS HOUSE PANEL ON I.T. OVER ‘CONG TOOLKIT’

DELHI: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday hit out at the BJP and said the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology had written to the IT ministry over its communication with Twitter on the “manipulated media” issue and received a detailed reply on it.

Tharoor’s remarks came a day after BJP lawmaker Nishikant Dubey sought his removal as chairman of the panel, alleging that Tharoor had used the panel to further his political agenda.

In a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Dubey, who is also a member of the panel, complained of Tharoor’s remarks on the “toolkit” row to defame the government. He accused Tharoor of “using the committee as an extension of the Congress”. “...On the subject of the Ministry of IT’s contacts with @Twitter on #ManipulatedMedia, the Committee Secretariat wrote to MEITY [Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology] by email on 4 & 25 May & received a detailed & comprehensive reply dated 26 May, which is being circulated to all Members for their information,” Tharoor said.