Chairman of an institute that functions under the HRD Ministry was served his marching orders on Friday allegedly because he campaigned against HRD Minister Arjun Singh’s daughter Veena Singh, an Independent candidate from Sidhi.

National Institute of Technical Teachers’ Training and Research (NITTTR) chairman Mahendra Singh Chouhan, once a close confidant of the minister, was removed from his post two months before he was scheduled to complete his term.

Chouhan, who is close to the minister’s son Ajay Singh, had campaigned in favour of the Congress candidate from Sidhi Indrajit Patel. The minister had tried his best to get a ticket for his daughter from Satna constituency but the party refused it saying neither was she a winnable candidate nor could her ailing father guarantee her victory.

Though the minister himself did not rebel after the humiliation, his daughter seemed to have his backing to contest as an Independent. His wife accompanied Veena Singh on her campaign.

The minister had made it clear that he wants to see his daughter as his political successor and not his son, an MLA from Churhat. The senior Singh addressed just one Congress rally in Sidhi, that too for barely three minutes, and without taking the candidate’s name.

Chouhan told The Sunday Express that he was shocked by the unceremonious removal but added that he held nothing against the minister because he owed his posting to the minister in the first place. “He appointed me, he removed me. I see no other reason,” he said when asked about his termination. Without citing any reason, the termination letter said the decision had been taken by a competent authority.

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