Explained: This article explains the political background, key decisions, and possible outcomes related to Explained : MP Brittas slams govt on trade deal announcement on social media and Its Impact and why it matters right now.
CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member John Brittas on Tuesday launched a sharp attack on the Centre for announcing the Indo-US trade deal on social media platform X instead of making a statement in Parliament, asking whether the House had become “inferior to Elon Musk’s X platform”.
Participating in the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address in the Upper House, Brittas criticised the government for what he described as a disregard for parliamentary convention and raised concerns about the potential impact of the proposed trade deal on India’s agricultural sector.
“Is this House more important than Elon Musk’s X platform? That’s the question,” Brittas said, objecting to the announcement being made on social media at 9 pm while Parliament was in session.
He said it was a long-standing convention that major policy decisions taken during a parliamentary session are first communicated to the House.
“The healthy convention of this country is that any policy decision during a Parliament session, any important decision, should be announced on the floor of the House, rather than on the X platform,” the CPI(M) leader said.
Questioning the timing of the announcement, Brittas remarked that the Prime Minister appeared to be “alert and awake at 11 pm at night to respond to his (US President’s) teasers”, while Cabinet ministers took to social media to “shower compliments” on Donald Trump.