BC Khanduri's removal from parl panel 'symptomatic' of how BJP govt at Centre functions: Son

The sudden removal of veteran BJP leader B C Khanduri from the parliamentary committee on defence is "symptomatic" of the way the party's government at the Centre functions, his son Manish Khanduri, who makes his electoral debut as Congress's Pauri Lok Sabha seat candidate, said Wednesday.

BC Khanduri, a former Uttarakhand chief minister and retired army general, was removed as the panel's chairman last year.

Manish has made his father's "unceremonious" removal from the panel a major poll issue and said the action was "humiliation" for a leader who still serves the BJP.

"My father had made an objective evaluation of the country's defence preparedness and come up with suggestions which could improve the situation.

"However, the government did not just choose to ignore his suggestions but also removed him from the committee. This is symptomatic of the way this (BJP) government functions.The action shows its intolerance to critical appraisal," Manish told PTI in an interview.

Pauri along with the four other Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand goes to polls on April 11. The Congress has pitted Manish against BJP's Tirath Singh Rawat from the seat.

On his father never complaining about his removal from the panel, Manish said,"He (BC Khanduri) is an army man and a man from the hills. He will not say anything. He would just salute and go."
On what motivated him to leave his cushy job and join the rough and tumble of politics he said, "I am not here to do politics. I am here to work to make a difference."