Ministers associated with Doval Jr venture must resign: Yechury

Raising questions over propriety of top Union ministers being on the board of directors of a private firm, Communist Party of India Marxist (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury on Sunday demanded resignation of these ministers.

"Unanswered questions galore. Brazen conflict of interest. The ministers involved have no right to continue in government. They must resign," Yechury wrote on his Twitter handle, embedding the link to a "The Wire" expose.

News website "The Wire" on Saturday ran a story that detailed how the India Foundation, a think tank being run by National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval's son Shaurya Doval and BJP National General Secretary Ram Madhav has top ministers as directors and relies on financial support from foreign and Indian corporates, some of which have dealings with the government.

Shaurya is also a partner in a financial services firm that specialises in "transactions and capital flows between the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) and the emerging Asian economies", the story said.

The India Foundation has Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha and Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar among its directors.

"Government of India is being compromised by these ministers in a way which is totally unacceptable. If this is not corruption, then what is?" Yechury said.

--IANS

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