Cong questions Khanduri's removal from House panel

Congress leader Suryakant Dhasmana has sought an explanation from the Narendra Modi government on the removal of former Uttarakhand chief minister BC Khanduri as chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on defence.

Khanduri, a senior BJP leader and former army general, was removed from the post earlier this week.

"Khanduri was removed as the panel headed by him was critical of the country's defence preparedness," PCC senior vice president Dhasmana told reporters Friday.

Dhasmana cited a report tabled by the committee in March this year underlining "low stock of armaments" to claim that Khanduri, MP from Pauri, was removed because of the contents of the report.

"As Khanduri has a reputation for his honesty and the Centre does not want the truth about defence matters to be uncovered he was removed from the post," the Congress leader alleged.

Khanduri was replaced as the head of the panel by former Union minister Kalraj Mishra.