Advani

New Delhi, Sept. 11: Poornima Advani, the chairperson of the National Commission for Women, has made enemies both in the Left and the Right.

Initially, the Left ?particularly the women activists ? criticised her functioning. Now her colleagues in the commission, some of them close to the Sangh parivar, are badmouthing her. Some are even staying away from office on medical leave.

Advani?s critics have written to human resource development minister Arjun Singh, asking him to sack her. Her term ends in January.

According to ministry sources, former HRD minister M.M. Joshi had appointed Advani without getting the official sanction of the cabinet committee on appointments.

In the normal course, the commission chief cannot be removed before her term ends because it is a statutory body. But sources said the technical lapse by Joshi makes Advani vulnerable to being sacked.

Arjun, in his ?detoxification? drive, has got rid of most Joshi appointees.

Resentment against Advani has peaked to a point where the majority, if not all her five colleagues in the commission, have turned against her. They complain that Advani has not fulfilled the basic mandate of the commission, which is to redress women?s grievances.