TR Baalu admitted on Wednesday approaching the petroleum minister for supply of gas to a company he had headed in the past.
NEW DELHI: Unmindful of the embarrassment it may cause to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, shipping and surface transport minister TR Baalu admitted on Wednesday approaching the petroleum minister for supply of gas to a company he had headed in the past.
“I put in a word with the petroleum minister. What is wrong in it?” Baalu retorted when AIADMK member V Maitreyan, raising the issue during zero hour in the Rajya Sabha, alleged the minister had misused his official position to get gas for the two companies owned by his sons and their wives, Kings India Power Corporation and Kings India Chemical Corporation.
Baalu’s two wives are shareholders in the companies. His being bigamous does not attract penal action but his admission that he pressured officials invited protests.
Maitreyan accused Baalu of arm-twisting officials of the petroleum and natural gas ministry over the past two years to bend rules and provide gas from the Cauvery basin to his companies.
In his defence, Baalu said he was managing director of King Chemicals and King High Power before he became a minister in the previous NDA government. The companies had entered into an agreement with Gail for supply of 10,000 cubic metres of gas.
However, within days of his resignation from the NDA government in 2003, the BJP cancelled the allocation.
Baalu said on request from many of the 40,000 shareholders and in the interest of employees, he put in a word with the petroleum minister. “What is wrong in it? The BJP has taken revenge on me,” he said.
As Maitreyan raised the issue in the zero hour, members of the ruling UPA clashed with the opposition benches, mainly the AIADMK and BJP. Clearly embarrassed over the admission, Congress leaders hope the issue dies down in the next couple of days. As of present, their policy is one of wait and watch.
s_rajesh@dnaindia.net
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