Former president APJ Abdul Kalam's grand nephew quit the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday after the Centre refused to make the late scientist's bungalow a knowledge centre, said reports.
Syed Ibrahim (aka Sheikh Salim) reportedly said the Central government has failed to go by public opinion on converting Dr Kalam's bungalow into a knowledge centre in Delhi.
The Delhi residence of Abdul Kalam was allocated to Union Tourism & Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma, who had drawn ire for his controversial remark on the former president.
"The sole purpose of converting his house into Knowledge Centre is for Students and Youngsters to learn and to know the farsighted vision of Dr A.P.J Abdul Kalam, but the Government of India rejected the request and allotted the house to central minister Mahesh Sharma and now he is living there," Abdul Kalam's grand nephew said in his letter as reported by IBN Live.
In September, Mahesh Sharma sparked outrage after he remarked that Kalam was a nationalist and humanist despite being a Muslim.
However, the No. 10 Rajaji Marg bungalow, where Kalam lived from 2007 until his death in July this year, has been given to the Minister of State for Culture.