The Hindu : Opposition demands memorial for Jagjivan Ram

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Nov 30, 2002

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Opposition demands memorial for Jagjivan Ram

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI NOV. 29. The Opposition today demanded in the Lok Sabha that the Government convert the Krishna Menon Marg residence of Jagjivan Ram into a memorial for the leader. The issue was raised by the former Union Minister, Ram Vilas Paswan, and supported by members from the Left parties, the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal.

Making a strong case for allowing the late leader's residence to be converted into a memorial, Mr. Paswan said permission had been granted by the Government to convert Lal Bahadur Shastri's house into a memorial. He was supported by Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (RJD), Sushil Shinde (Cong.) and Ramdas Athwale (RPI). He said over hundred parliamentarians, including the President, the Prime Minister and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, had written letters in support of the demand. The members said the issue was raised last week as well and the Government had promised to get back on it, but had not done so far.

The Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Pramod Mahajan, clarified that he had conveyed the feeling of the members to the Prime Minister, A. B. Vajpayee, but had not got a reply. He pointed out that permission had been denied not only to the Jagjivan Ram memorial but also to requests to allow a memorial for Charan Singh and Devi lal.

The Lok Sabha Speaker, Manohar Joshi, suggested that all the leaders meet the Prime Minister on the issue to request him to rethink. The issue, however, continued to generate heat, with Mr. Shinde (Cong.) and Mr. Mahajan getting into a slanging match. The Opposition MPs ccused the Government of slighting the memory of Jagjivan Ram and staged a walkout. While the entire Left and the RJD walked out, only Mr. Shinde joined them.

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