Disappointed with Congress leaders removal from NMML Society: Mallikarjun Kharge

Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday expressed disappointment with the centre's decision to remove Karan Singh and Jairam Ramesh from the committee of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML Society).

"They should have kept Karan Singh who is very much attached to that museum and since almost 50 years he has been associated with it and is also very interested in culture, literature. It shows they are bringing politics into it which is not good. Jairam Ramesh is a very intellectual writer who could have contributed immensely to the institution," Kharge said.

He, however, said that he was not concerned about his own removal from the committee as he had been included when his party was in power at the centre.

"I am not concerned about my removal because I was included when I was a leader of the largest party. But its the removal of Singh and Ramesh which is the most shocking," he said.

At a time when the NMML is likely to get revamped by the centre, it reconstituted the NMML committee on Tuesday removing senior Congress leaders such as Kharge, Jairam Ramesh, and Singh from it.

The former leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha further said that the centre should have instead added more people to the committee instead of removing the experienced people.

"If the nominations on any committee kept being made on the basis of party, the organisation will not be able to flourish. We are not against the inclusion of more people but the people who knew Nehruji closely should not have been removed," Kharge said.

"They could have benefitted immensely from the experience of the leaders whom they have dropped. These kinds of politically motivated moves will not be appreciated by the people," he added.

Earlier today, senior Congress leader Karan Singh too termed the removal of Congress leaders from the committee of the NMML Society as a "shocking move" and said it revealed "bigoted and narrow-minded approach" of the central government.

"It is really quite shocking and shows a very negative mindset that everybody associated with an institution dedicated to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru has been removed from the committee. The fact that they should do this shows they have a very bigoted and narrow-minded approach to it," Singh told ANI.