MP Minister flays Binayak Sen's nomination to Plan panel

Bhopal, May 15: The nomination of human rights activist Binayak Sen as a member of the Planning Commission's Steering Committee on health has not gone down well with the ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh with Home Minister Uma Shankar Gupta questioning the motive behind such a move.

"Sen may have done a good job in the health sector, but equally important is the fact that he was found guilty by a court of law and convicted. The Centre should have avoided his nomination to the Plan panel," Gupta told PTI here today.

It appears the move is politically motivated as Chhattisgarh, where Sen works, is being ruled by BJP, he said.

Asked whether such moves will affect the fight against Naxal menace in the country, Gupta said "I would like to know what message the Centre wants to give by such a move."

Sen was recently granted bail by the Supreme Court which observed that no case of sedition was made out against the activist, who was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Chhatisgarh court for alleged links with Naxals.

On Madhya Pradesh's demand to declare five more districts in the state as Naxal-affected, he said though the Centre has not accepted it, it has included four of them under the Special Integrated Plan and sanctioned Rs 25 crore each for development schemes and combating the menace.

PTI