Binayak on Plan panel,Raman to skip its meets

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and his Cabinet colleagues have decided to skip all meetings of the Planning Commission over nomination of PUCL activist Dr Binayak Sen.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and his Cabinet colleagues have decided to skip all meetings of the Planning Commission over nomination of PUCL activist Dr Binayak Sen as a member of the Plan panels Steering Committee on Health. However,government officials from the state will attend these meetings whenever necessary.

The government is officially communicating its position to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,who is also chairman of the Planning Commission,that the state does not approve of the nomination of a person who has been convicted of sedition and other serious charges and is out on bail pending his appeal in the high court, sources told The Indian Express.

Ruling BJP sources said Singh and other ministers will stay away from all Plan panel meetings as as long as Sen continues to be a member of the Health committee.

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The Chief Minister has been under mounting pressure from the party to take a tough stand on the issue in tune with the sentiments of the people of the state.

Sen was convicted by a trial court on December 24 last year for sedition and other charges,including for alleged links with Naxalites,and sentenced to life imprisonment. While the high court rejected his bail plea,the Supreme Court had granted him bail,suspending sentence by the trial court. His appeal against conviction is now pending in the high court.

Can the Chief Minister,ministers or anyone from the states political leadership remain present at meetings of a body which has nominated a convict as a member? state BJP president Ram Sewak Paikra asked. Seeing a UPA government conspiracy in the matter,he called the move an insult to the people of Chhattisgarh.