No scope for non-official nominees in DMRC board: Puri

NEW DELHI: Indicating that the Centre will not accept the nomination of AAP leaders Raghav Chadha and Atishi to the DMRC board, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Tuesday there is no scope for non-official people in the board. He said that in 2003, then BJP MP Madan Lal Khurana had resigned as DMRC chairman after then chief minister Sheila Dikshit objected to his appointment. "I have a situation where the DMRC board is handled with great competence by the serving secretary in the ministry. There is no scope for non-official people in that board," Puri said.

Taking a dig at Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party, Puri said, "We have now different situation where Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is not suggesting the name of an MP and he is suggesting names of two people who lost elections for MP."

Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot has nominated four representatives, including Chadha and Atishi, to the DMRC board of directors. Delhi Dialogue and Development Commission (DDC) vice chairman Jasmine Shah and AAP's Rajya Sabha MP N D Gupta's son Naveen Gupta are the two other persons nominated by Gahlot. Chadha and Atishi had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha polls from South and East Delhi seats respectively earlier this year.

Responding to the Union housing and urban affairs minister's comment, Chadha said by the extension of this logic, Puri achieved the "unachievable feat" of losing the Lok Sabha elections from Amritsar on a BJP ticket despite "Modi tsunami". "By the extension of that logic since the Hon'ble Minister @HardeepSPuri achieved the unachievable feat of losing the Lok Sabha elections from Amritsar on a BJP ticket despite Modi Tsunami and BJP winning 300+ seats, he must put in his papers immediately (sic)," he tweeted.

Rejecting Puri's claim about Khurana, senior Congress leader Ajay Maken said Madan Lal Khurana had resigned from the Lok Sabha and as the DMRC chairman in December 2003 as he was being made Rajasthan Governor.