Jairam Ramesh's contention on MPs disturbing: BJP

The BJP on Thursday described the environment minister Jairam Ramesh's contention that some Members of Parliament (MP) lobby for industries and groups as "disturbing" and asked him to name them.

"Since Jairam Ramesh has raised the issue pertaining to MPs without specifying the names of MPs who have been pressurising his ministry, he has cast virtual aspersions on all MPs," BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said in a statement.

He insisted that it was "a matter of privilege" for every member to know these "so called Members of Parliament", the political party to which they belong and the projects they have been lobbying about.

"It is not just a matter of ethics but also a matter of breach of privilege of MPs," Rudy said.

The BJP claimed this was a matter involving larger public interest and Ramesh could not be ambiguous on the issue.

"It is an issue which deserves full transparency and the people of the country have every right to know about it," Rudy said.

Ramesh had written a letter to speaker Meira Kumar on the issue and sought her intervention on what he called "objectionable and blatant violation of norms" by the MPs who indulged in lobbying.