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Congress seeks privilege motion against minister
Congress’s chief whip Ramesh wrote a letter on Thursday to Venkaiah Naidu, the chairman of Parliament’s Upper House, on the privilege motion
The Congress has sought to move a privilege motion over Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Tarun Vijay’s appointment as the National Monuments Authority (NMA) chairman, saying the appointee does not meet the criteria laid down under a law passed by the Parliament for the post.
Congress’s chief whip in Rajya Sabha Jairam Ramesh wrote a letter on Thursday to Venkaiah Naidu, the chairman of Parliament’s Upper House on the privilege motion. He pointed out that Vijay, a former editor of the weekly Panchajanya of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the BJP’s ideological fountainhead, is ineligible for the post. Ramesh said the appointment makes a mockery of the law.
Ramesh cited the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment and Validation) Act’s Section 20F and said that it stipulates that the chairman to be appointed should have proven experience and expertise in archaeology, town planning, architecture, heritage, conservation architecture, or the law. “For the first time, I find that the government of India has appointed a chairperson whose education and professional background does not, in any way whatsoever, meet the requirement of the law as stipulated mandatorily by Parliament,” Ramesh said in the letter, a copy of which HT has seen. Since Ramesh is seeking to move the privilege motion now, it has to be against the current minister. The Congress maintained the details of his appointment came into light later. Culture minister’s office didn’t wish to comment.
