Bill to end automatic nomination of Congress president for Jallianwala Bagh Trust

NEW DELHI: One of the first legislations set to be piloted by the Union government in the upcoming Budget session seeks to do away with the automatic nomination of the president of the Indian National Congress — currently Rahul Gandhi — to the Jallianwala Bagh Trust.

The Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial (Amendment) Bill proposes to make changes in the composition of Memorial’s Trust and replace the Congress president with the president of the largest opposition party. It also seeks to allow for removal of other nominated members, ET has learnt.

The move comes in the centenary commemoration of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre which is being observed by the Centre.


The Modi government had attempted to get the Bill for the same through at the near end of its first tenure, passing it in Lok Sabha in February 2019. However, the Rajya Sabha did not pass the Bill amid strong opposition from the Congress party and it therefore lapsed with the 16th Lok Sabha.

Currently, the Trust is chaired by the Prime Minister and has on board president of the Congress party, the culture minister, leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Governor and Chief Minister of Punjab. There are also three eminent persons nominated on the Trust -- mostly Congress persons so far incluuding the likes of Ambika Soni and former LG Virendra Kataria, among others.

The amended Bill has added a provision in the Bill to permit the central government to terminate the term of a nominated trustee before the expiry of his term without assigning any reason.

The amended Bill on the composition of the Trust calls for nomination of the ‘Leader of Opposition’ recognised as such in the House of the People, or where there is no such Leader of Opposition, then the Leader of the single largest Opposition Party in the House”.

The Cabinet, after passing the Bill, in December 2018 had argued that the amendment was being made as “in the existing Act, there is a provision for representation of a single national political party”.

The Culture ministry will be taking this legislation to Parliament.