UPA Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee resigned as Chairman of the Council of the Indian Statistical Institute on June 20, before filing his nomination on June 28, institute officials said on Monday.
“Mr. Mukherjee resigned as Council chairman on June 20. It was a mistake on our part that his name continued to be on the institute’s website,” Director Bimal K Roy told The Hindu . After the matter came to Mr. Roy’s notice, the name was removed.
Mr. Mukherjee’s rival and former Lok Sabha Speaker P.A. Sangma has written to Rajya Sabha Secretary-General and Returning Office V.K. Agnihotri, demanding that the former Union Minister’s nomination be cancelled as he continued to hold an office of profit.
Institute officials, however, said the post is honorary and it is not an office of profit, and Mr. Mukherjee was not paid any salary during his tenure.
Mr. Roy said Mr Mukherjee became the Chairman in September 2004. He was actively involved for eight years in the institute’s activities and instrumental in setting up centres of the institute in Chennai and the Northeast.
Professor M.G.K. Menon, president of the Council, will hold the additional charge till a new chairman is selected.
