Chennai, Nov 28 : AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa Saturday slammed union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers M. K. Alagiri's continued absence from parliament, especially during question hour to reply to members' queries about his ministry.

Terming Alagiri's absence in parliament during the question hour as "distressing" and citing a news report that quoted him saying that he had some personal function to attend to, Jayalalithaa said: "Alagiri should tell the nation what that personal function was and in what way it was more important than attending to his ordained parliamentary duties.

"Lakhs of people had purportedly cast their votes in his favour not for attending functions but to discharge his functions as a parliamentarian and union minister," she said, according to a statement released here.

The AIADMK chief also charged Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Alagiri's father M. Karunanidhi of not being concerned about the "secondary status" that the Tamil language enjoys in parliament.

Alagairi has been insisting that he be allowed to speak in Tamil in parliament, as he is not fluent in either English or Hindi, thet two languages used most often in parliament.(IANS)