Shahnawaz Hussain gets US visa

NEW DELHI: The US embassy on Tuesday cleared the visa for BJP MP Shahnawaz Hussain after a delay due to "procedural" issues.
US embassy sources said, the visa was issued in the morning after all the procedures were completed. They denied reports that the visa was issued following intervention by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "There was no such intervention," the sources said, adding the visa was issued in the normal course.
Hussain, a former Union minister, said he would leave for the US on Tuesday night to join the parliamentary delegation in New York to attend the UN General Assembly session.
He also said he had not been denied the visa. It had only been delayed due to "administrative process".
"I met party leader L K Advani on Tuesday morning to explain to him about the development. Advaniji called up the Prime Minister, who assured him that he would look into the matter," Hussain said. The PM later called Advani to say that the visa had been issued, Hussain told TOI.
Asked if was upset by the development, Hussain said there was no bitterness with regard to the delay, but it was unfortunate that a three-time MP could not attend the session in time.
Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad attacked the government saying it was a "diplomatic failure". He told reporters that Hussain was not going for a private visit but to attend the UN General Assembly as part of a delegation of MPs. "We consider it a diplomatic failure of the government as MPs have a diplomatic passport and it is the foreign ministry which handles all the formalities when they are representing India," he said.
The Bhagalpur MP, too, was of the view that the issue should be taken up by the government at the diplomatic level with the US. The government should ask the US the reason behind the delay in granting him the visa, he said.
Hussain had on Monday said that as is the norm, the foreign ministry had applied for the visas for five members of the delegation of MPs. Girija Vyas, Sanjay Nirupam (both Congress), Ali Anwar (JD-U) and TKS Elangovan (DMK) were the other members.
Hussain has visited the US thrice in the past. The last visit was post 9/11 when he went there as Union textile minister.