BJP demands Ramadoss's sacking, asks PM to apologise

New Delhi, July 6 (UNI) A BJP delegation today met President A P J Abdul Kalam, demanding the sacking of Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss and urging Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to tender an unconditional apology to the nation for insulting the intellectual community by unceremonious termination of the services of AIIMS Director Venugopal without following due process of law.

The delegation of BJP Doctors Cell led by BJP Deputy Leaders in Parliament Vijay Kumar Malhotra and Sushma Swaraj urged Dr Kalam to intervene and ask the Cabinet Committee on Appointments not to accept the recommendations of the Institute Body of the AIIMS recommending the sack of Dr Venugopal.

Talking to reporters after the meeting Mrs Swaraj, said that the delegates urged upon Dr Kalam, himself a scientist, should not to be a 'silent spectator' to the humiliations heaped on a highly decorated intellectual and medical professional like Dr Venugopal by the UPA government, headed by Dr Manmohan Singh, a renowned economist and a member of the intellectual community.

"This is not an issue concerning the sacking of a director or a doctor, but a shameful event for the whole nation", the delegation told the President.

Dr Swaraj is a former Health Minister in the NDA Government and Mr Malhotra is a member of the member of the AIIMS Body who recorded dissent of three members including his own at the meeting.

Mr Malhotra said that the delegation also apprised Dr Kalam about how the due process of law was not followed by Dr Ramadoss without a notice or an inquiry. Dr Venugopal was made to sit outside the meeting when the decision made, they said, adding ''such things did not happen even during the dark dictatorial days of Emergency.'' ''This is not the way to treat a doctor whose services have been hailed in the Parliament and has been decorated with nation's second highest honour -- the Padmabhushan.

Dr Harsh Vardhan, Delhi BJP Chief and BJP Doctors Cell office bearers were part of the delegation.

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