New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Get together’s (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, who’s among the many Opposition leaders appointed as chairpersons of Parliamentary Friendship Teams fashioned by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, believes the Centre is making a mockery of him.

“I wish to thank the Prime Minister, the house minister and the legislation minister for appointing me as chairperson of the group, regardless of figuring out that my passport has been seized. Why are you making a mockery of me? I’m a Member of Parliament, and this quantities to ridiculing me,” Singh informed the media Wednesday.

Singh’s title featured prominently within the assertion issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat. He was named head of the group for the Caribbean nations.

Singh was arrested within the Delhi excise coverage case in October 2023 and was granted bail by a Delhi courtroom in April 2024. Nevertheless, he needed to give up his passport to the courtroom, other than furnishing a bail bond of Rs 2 lakh.

Among the many founding members of the AAP and serving a second time period within the Higher Home, Singh stated he would elevate the difficulty with the Lok Sabha Speaker in addition to the Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, C.P. Radhakrishnan.

“You have got filed a number of circumstances towards me and even despatched me to jail. My passport is with the courtroom, and the prime minister, the house minister and your complete nation are conscious of this. It’s not acceptable to insult a fellow Member of Parliament. You possibly can a minimum of have requested the Enforcement Directorate to maneuver an software for the return of my passport earlier than appointing me chairperson of the group,” he added.

Other than Singh, distinguished Opposition leaders comparable to Congress’s Shashi Tharoor, P. Chidambaram and Gaurav Gogoi; SP’s Akhilesh Yadav and Ram Gopal Yadav; DMK’s Ok. Kanimozhi; TMC’s Derek O’Brien and Abhishek Banerjee; and AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi will chair the parliamentary teams, every comprising 11 members.

The Lok Sabha Secretariat stated the concept behind the initiative was to permit lawmakers to talk on to their counterparts overseas, share legislative expertise, construct belief by common engagement, and alternate finest practices to additional strengthen bilateral relations and promote larger mutual understanding.

“It is very important recall that post-Operation Sindoor, the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, took the initiative to ship multi-party delegations to numerous nations to convey India’s perspective. By bringing collectively leaders from totally different political events and ideologies to symbolize India on the worldwide stage, the initiative rose above partisan boundaries and underscored a robust message: relating to the nation’s safety and pursuits, India stands united,” it stated in an announcement Monday.

(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)

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