Manish Tewari steps down as chairman of art culture tourism and heritage sub-committee in Chandigarh
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Chandigarh: Calling for domain expertise over political affiliation, Manish Tewari, MP from the Chandigarh parliamentary constituency, stepped down on Sunday from his role as chairman of the art, culture, tourism and heritage sub-committee of the administrator's advisory council.
Tewari's resignation comes amid growing concerns over the political composition of the council's sub-committees. Since their formation, questions have been raised about the dominance of BJP leaders, with seven out of ten sub-committees chaired by individuals affiliated with the party.
In a detailed letter addressed to Punjab Governor and Chandigarh Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria, Tewari emphasised that political figures should not head these sub-committees, which are meant to guide policy on specialized subjects.
He argued that domain experts and individuals with deep knowledge and experience in respective fields should be appointed instead.
"There is no dearth of such experienced and talented people in Chandigarh who have eons of experience and expertise in their respective fields," Tewari wrote. "Given that your good self, in your innate wisdom, has decided to make political personalities as chairpersons of the respective sub-committees, under those circumstances, I would like to request you to kindly appoint Harmohinder Singh Lucky, president of Chandigarh Congress, as the chairperson of the sub-committee on art, culture, tourism and heritage preservation in my place.
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Tewari also expressed concern over the political imbalance in the appointments. "I was rather struck by the fact that seven out of the ten chairpersons of the various sub-committees belong to one political dispensation only. Is this inadvertent or deliberate, and even appropriate from the point of view of propriety? I leave it to your august wisdom and sagacity to reflect upon the same," he stated.
He also noted that while presidents of other political parties in Chandigarh have been appointed as chairpersons of various sub-committees, Lucky, president of the Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee (CTCC), has only been made a member of the art, culture, tourism and heritage preservation sub-committee.
BJP Dominance in Sub-Committee Chairmanships
Out of 10 sub-committees, 7 are chaired by active BJP leaders.
Satnam Singh Sandhu (Rajya Sabha MP)
Jatinder Pal Malhotra (BJP Chandigarh president)
Satya Pal Jain (Former MP)
Gian Chand Gupta (Former mayor and Haryana vidhan sabha speaker)
Anup Gupta (Former mayor)
Sanjay Tandon (Former BJP president)
Subhash Chawla (BJP leader)
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