Panaji: Goa state Congress president Shantaram Naik on Monday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi seek the resignation of four Union Ministers who are trustees in the Shaurya Doval-headed India Foundation, accusing them of conflict of interest.
“Shockingly, there are four (central government) Ministers on this Trust, Defence Minister, MoS External, MoS Civil Aviation and our Commerce Minister. Can these four Ministers be directors of the Trust? This is conflict of interest. Modi should seek resignations from them,” Naik said.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu and two Ministers of State, Jayant Sinha and M.J. Akbar, are trustees in the India Foundation, which is headed by Shaurya Doval, the son of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
While Shaurya Doval has claimed that there is no question of conflict of interest on part of the Ministers, who are trustees, the Opposition has alleged direct conflict of interest, with the Congress in New Delhi even demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the Foundation’s functioning.
IANS