New Delhi, Dec 12 (IANS): After uproar on the answer to an unstarred question in the Lok Sabha last week, Minister of State for External Affairs, V. Muraleedharan, set the record straight by clarifying that he should have been listed as the Minister who replied to the question on the Palestinian group Hamas and not Minister of State for External Affairs, Meenakshi Lekhi.

Muraleedharan laid a statement in the House, which was included in the supplementary agenda, "correcting the reply given on December 8 to unstarred question number 980 by Congress MP Kumbakudi Sudhakaran regarding 'declaration of Hamas as terrorist organisation'."

A massive controversy erupted on December 9 after Lekhi said she had not approved a question tabled in the Lok Sabha on December 8 by declaring Hamas a terrorist organisation, prompting the government to issue a clarification that it was a "procedural error".

Following the controversy, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a statement on December 10, saying the unstarred question "needs a technical correction in terms of reflecting Muraleedharan as the Minister of State replying to the Parliament question".