BJP on Tuesday criticised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for keeping away from Parliament for most part of the winter session, maintaining that this had set a bad precedent and dented Parliamentary accountability of the government.
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said that international diplomacy was important but it should "certainly not be at the cost of Parliamentary accountability".
"This is a bad precedent. I hope the government will take note of this in future," he added.
Prime Minister Singh had gone on three foreign tours during the month-long Parliament session, which began on November 19.
He spent nine days on his visit to Washington and Port-of-Spain, two days in Russia and another two days on his visit to Copenhagen for the Climate Change summit.
Jaitley said Manmohan Singh's absence from Parliament had led cabinet ministers and at times even Ministers of State to give replies when ideally the Prime Minister should be doing so.
"Result of this (Prime Minister's absence) is that when it comes to issues of government accountability, its standard is falling," the eminent lawyer said, adding if this goes on, accountability to Parliament will decrease further.
{{/usCountry}}"Result of this (Prime Minister's absence) is that when it comes to issues of government accountability, its standard is falling," the eminent lawyer said, adding if this goes on, accountability to Parliament will decrease further.
{{/usCountry}}He expressed disappointment at Singh not giving a statement in Parliament on the Copenhagen summit and instead sending Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh.