NEW DELHI: Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal Tuesday virtually rescinded his controversial order to remove industry minister Singh from the secretary ship of the Janata Dal parliamentary board,
Writing as if he had never sacked Ajit Singh and appointed Yashwant Sinha in that post, the deputy prime minister said in a letter to Ajit Singh that he only wanted Yashwant to “‘record” the decisions taken by the board.
Sinha had declined Devi Lal’s offer, which was made late last month, and then wrote a letter to Prime Minister VP Singh pleading that there should be no compromise on the issues relating to Meham a sensitive subject for Mr. Devi Lal.
There was a national uproar over reported election violence during Meham assembly constituency the chief minister and son of Devi Lal, Om Prakash Chautala, was contesting. Ajit Singh and some other Janata Dal leaders have been very vociferously demanding investigations into Meham charges.
Devi Lal said in the letter that he had requested Sinha to “act” as secretary of the parliamentary board as he (Sinha) had the experience of recording the decisions taken in the board about candidates for the upper house of parliament and state assembly by elections and informing the press.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 13, 1990
