Ronen Sen to face House on October 29

Ronen Sen will depose before the privileges committee of the Lok Sabha to account for his comment describing those opposing the N-deal as headless chickens, reports Srinand Jha.

India’s Ambassador in the United States, Ronen Sen, will depose before the privileges committee of the Lok Sabha on October 29 to account for his controversial comment describing those opposing the nuclear deal as “headless chickens”.

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Sen will also make an appearance before the privileges committee of the Rajya Sabha. The date and time are to be conveyed to him shortly. The Lok Sabha privileges committee, chaired by Kishore Chandra Deo, has asked the Ministry of External Affairs to furnish all documents and letters exchanged with Sen on the issue before October 29.

Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee had referred the issue to the committee after receiving a reply by the External Affairs Ministry, which said Sen had expressed an unqualified apology for the remark. The ministry’s plea was that in view of the apology, the matter be treated as closed.

Speaking to the Hindustan Times, Kishore Chandra Deo said that in view of the strong feelings of MPs in the matter, it was decided that Sen be summoned.

Explaining his comment after uproarious scenes in Parliament, Sen had said he had used it to refer to journalists and not MPs, while offering unconditional apology to them, nevertheless.