Khan not the first minister to quit for remarks against Prez

New Delhi, Feb 10 (PTI) Rajasthan minister Ameen Khanis not the first minister to quit for making personal remarksagainst the President of India.

Some 20 years ago, the then Union Minister of statefor Information and Broadcasting K K Tewari had met the samefate for targeting, in a speech in the Lok Sabha, the thenPresident Zail Singh.

Tewari among other things had accused the latePresident of extending hospitality to U S-based individualssupporting Khalistan.

A strong loyalist of the then Prime MinisterRajiv Gandhi, Tewari had to pay the price when Zail Singh tookstrong exception to the remarks by the Union Minister and hadasked Gandhi to sack him.

In fact, Zail Singh, who was by then not on good withGandhi, had virtually given a deadline before which hewanted Tewari to go. The incident had taken place at the fagend of Zail Singh''s tenure.

Tewari then tendered his resignation to save theleader from any embarrassment.

Two decades later, Rajasthan Minister Ameen Khan,whose remarks on President Pratibha Patil triggered acontroversy, resigned today.

Sources said Gehlot had asked Khan, Minister ofState for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, to put in hispapers in the wake of the personal remarks made by him againstthe President, which he had since denied.

Addressing Congress workers in Pali district onTuesday, Khan had reportedly said that Patil did not ask forany position but was made the President due to her loyalty tothe Gandhi family and cited instances of her association withIndira Gandhi.

A section of the local media quoted Khan as havingtold the party workers that Patil was so dedicated that "sheused to make tea and cook food at Indira Gandhi''s residence"and due to her honesty, devotion and loyalty, she is now thePresident. Khan, however, denied having said so.