Dismissing reports that Sonia Gandhi was not keen on the two ministers ufffd both known to be close to the Manmohan Singh ufffd continuing, the party clarified that it was a joint decision of the PM and the Congress president
Dropping of Pawan Kumar Bansal and Ashwani Kumar from the Union Cabinet was the “joint decision” of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, the Congress said yesterday, dismissing reports that the action was at the insistence of the party president.
“It has appeared in a section of the media that it was at the insistence of Congress President Sonia Gandhi that the two Ministers were dropped. This perception is not correct. The correct position is that it was the joint decision of the Congress President and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,” party General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi said.
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All is well? It is said that despite Sonia Gandhi being unhappy with them, Pawan Kumar Bansal and Ashwani Kumar managed to hold on to their ministries due to the backing of the PM. File pic
There were reports that Sonia was not keen on the two ministers, both known to be close to Singh, continuing. The two had managed to hold on to their ministries due to the backing of the PM. Both resigned on Friday, reportedly due to growing discomfiture of the Congress president.
Both Bansal and Kumar had been handpicked for the Railways and Law portfolios respectively by Singh himself. Kumar, for one, had found a place in the Union Cabinet within four years of becoming a Rajya Sabha member. He finally took over as Law Minister last October. Meanwhile, Bansal, a four-time MP, was given charge of the crucial Railways ministry after the Trinamool’s exit from the government, thus becoming the first Congressman to hold the portfolio in nearly two decades.
After the two ministers resigned, BJP senior leader LK Advani said, “Has the Prime Minister abdicated his right even to decide about his own Cabinet? Today’ news reports about the removal of two Union Ministers generally emphasise that, it is Soniaji who has sacked ‘two PM’s men’.Sheer self-respect demands that the PM calls it a day, and orders an early general election,” Advani wrote on his blog.
Bansal resigned a week after the arrest of his nephew Vijay Singla for allegedly accepting Rs 90 lakh for fixing promotion in Railway Board while Kumar quit in the wake of a raging controversy over his vetting the CBI probe report in the coal block allocations scam.
BJP workers demonstrate near PM house
About 200 activists of BJP’s youth wing were detained outside Manmohan Singh’s official residence yesterday as they demonstrated, demanding his resignation after two union ministers quit over malfeasance and impropriety. Burning the effigy of the prime minister, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) protestors managed to break through two police barricades. Police personnel used tear shells and water cannons to beat them back.
According to police, several roads leading to 7 Race Course Road like Akbar Road and Ashoka Road were closed to the general public, and traffic was diverted. “Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC had been imposed in areas of central Delhi, including 7 Race Course Road,” the police official said. The Race Course Road Metro station, which was closed since 11 am to the public, was re-opened around 2 pm, officials of Delhi Metro said.u00a0
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