Will strive to make education more inclusive, equitable: AAP Punjab MP
Darpan News Desk IANS, 02 May, 2022 11:18 AM
Chandigarh, May 2 (IANS) Newly elected Rajya Sabha member Ashok Mittal, who took oath of office on Monday, called for making higher education more inclusive and equitable for a sustainable global future.
"Besides holding new assigned parliamentary duties, I will keep on propagating the National Education Policy 2020 by working on innovative ideas to address the pressing problems of society and revolutionise the educational scenario in the country," Mittal told IANS.
Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu administered oath to the three newly-elected Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MPs in New Delhi.
Besides Mittal, the Chancellor of Lovely Professional University (LPU), others who were elected in the recently concluded biennial election from Punjab are businessman Sanjeev Arora and AAP Punjab co in-charge Raghav Chadha.
Thanking the Centre for the responsibility entrusted to him, Mittal said: "It is an honour to accept the responsibilities laid upon me at the Upper House of the Parliament. I will make every possible effort towards progress and development of the country and its people."
The university faculty members and students witnessed the swearing-in ceremony live on the wide screen at the university's Shanti Devi Mittal Auditorium in Jalandhar city.
At the oath-taking venue, three podiums were set up on the stage. While the Governor and Mann were on the central podium, the second was occupied by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his cabinet, and the third by AAP's 91 legislators.
A day earlier, Sonia Gandhi asked party chiefs Sidhu in Punjab, Ganesh Godiyal in Uttarakhand, Ajay Kumar Lallu in Uttar Pradesh, Girish Chodankar in Goa and Nameirakpam Loken Singh in Manipur to resign. Sidhu, once a Chief Minister aspirant, faced defeat from his stronghold Amritsar (East) seat.
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, representing the family members, submitted before a bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana that on March 10, a protected witness in the case had been attacked and the state government did not file an appeal challenging the bail granted to Misra in the case.
The SAD also announced the expulsion of Kalka from the primary membership of the party, besides dissolving the party's Delhi unit. It also announced the formation of a five-member ad hoc committee headed by veteran leader Avtar Singh Hit, and comprising Harinder Singh Kaypee, Bhupinder Singh Anand, Gurdev Singh Bhola, and Ravinder Singh Khurana.
In December last year, the Supreme Court had said it expects a fair investigation and investigating agencies should be neutral, as it asked Delhi Police to conclude the probe, by December 15, in a case against Singh.
Amid a call for leadership change in the party, Congress General Secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has called a meeting of party leaders on Tuesday to find out the reasons for the defeat. The Congress could only get just over 2 per cent votes and two seats in the Uttar Pradesh polls.