Union Minister M K Alagiri is taking his mother Dayalu Ammal to the US for a health check-up for a period of 15 days.
Dayalu Ammal is the second wife of Karunanidhi, chief of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham party.
The prime minister's office has accorded a permission for Alagiri to undertake the private visit during Parliament session.
The Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers already has the poorest attendance record in the Parliament this year.
Alagiri has reportedly undertaken a two-month crash course in spoken English after he was criticised for not participating in the discussions in the House. The minister was fluent in Tamil alone and did not know Hindi o English.
