டி.ஆர் பாலுவுக்கு இருக்கும் நேர்மை கூட மன்மோகன்சிங்குக்கு கிடையாது- மைத்ரேயன் குற்றச்சாட்டு

டி.ஆர் பாலுவுக்கு இருக்கும் நேர்மை கூட மன்மோகன்சிங்குக்கு கிடையாது என்று மைத்ரேயன் குற்றச்சாட்டினார்

டி.ஆர் பாலுவின் சொந்தக்காரர்களுக்கு பெட்ரோல் வங்கி வாங்கித்தர எட்டு முறை பிரதம மந்திரியின் ஆபீஸ் பெட்ரோலிய அமைச்சகத்துக்கு லெட்டர் அனுப்பியிருக்கிறது.

அது தப்பே இல்லை என்று காங்கிரஸ் கூறுகிறது.

பாராளுமன்றத்தில் விளக்கம் சொல்ல பிரதமர் மன்மோகன் சிங் ஆஜராகாமால் எஸ்கேப்

PMO not wrong in forwarding letter eight times: Congress
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
Baalu row stalls both Houses

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) forwarded as many as eight letters to the Petroleum Ministry for allotment of gas to the firms owned by the two sons of Shipping Minister TR Baalu, but the Congress sees nothing wrong in that!

As the issue continued to rock Parliament, the party defended the PMO and said that forwarding letters is a common practice and did not necessarily mean endorsing the contents.



Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said: "The PMO had forwarded the requests to the Ministry. There is no question of endorsing or agreeing with the contents."



The Opposition is unlikely to buy this line of argument because it is understood that few officials will have the courage to go against a letter forwarded by the PMO. Also, it is difficult to believe that eight letters on the same subject could have been forwarded by the PMO to a Ministry and no one notice any thing unusual about it.



Caught in a difficult situation, the Government is hoping that the controversy will subside after Parliament Session with political parties getting busy with Karnataka Assembly poll.



Senior Congress leaders said that the party would not press for Baalu's resignation, as it was an internal matter of DMK and not the Congress. However, it is obvious that Baalu's had committed a gross misconduct in seeking favour for his sons and the Government needed to at least order an inquiry into the whole episode.



When asked to comment on the Congress views on Baalu's conduct, Singhvi said, "We want probity in public life and do not want anything less than that."



According to sources, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora is likely to make a statement in Parliament clarifying the limited involvement of PMO in forwarding the letters. Though the Opposition is likely to press for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's personal clarification on the floor of the House, there won't be any statement from Singh. Sources said that the Congress is seeing this as a "non-issue" that is unlikely to tarnish the image of the PMO.



The scandal, however, rocked both Houses of Parliament again with an agitated Opposition demanding clarification from the PM. Keeping up pressure on the Government, members belonging to the NDA staged a walkout in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha after they were not allowed to raise the issue.



In the Lok Sabha, BJP, JD(U) and MDMK members were on their feet as soon as the House met prompting an agitated Speaker Somnath Chatterjee to resort to switching off live telecast briefly. Raising the matter, Opposition members demanded an immediate statement by the Government over the issue and trooped into the well chanting slogans like "dismiss Baalu" and "save PMO from malpractices".



The Treasury benches retaliated by alleging "misuse" of PMO during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee's tenure.



The Speaker refused to accept their demand for an immediate clarification by the Prime Minister, saying the Question Hour should be allowed.



Similar scenes were witnessed in the Rajya Sabha with the Leader of Opposition Jaswant Singh charging that the Prime Minister was directly involved with the issue and demanded an answer from him.



Earlier, the BJP-led NDA and AIADMK staged a walkout when chairman Hamid Ansari refused their plea to suspend the Question Hour and take up the Baalu issue. Senior BJP leaders including Murli Manohar Joshi, Sushma Swaraj and SS Ahluwalia could be seen appealing to the Chair to allow them to raise the issue and Ansari said they could do so after the Question Hour.



Raising the matter after the Question Hour, Jaswant said since the Prime Minister was "directly involved," he should come to the House and clarify the situation. "We do want an answer from the Prime Minister," he said.



The BJP leader said the PMO wrote eight times to the Petroleum Ministry on this issue and rejected as "very curious" the argument given by the Government that the PMO did not mean the Prime Minister.



Maintaining that the PMO was the "direct extension" of the Prime Minister, Jaswant said though the issue was being raised every day, the response of the Government was "not forthcoming" and it has made the matter more complicated.



As the Opposition persisted with its demand for a response from the Government, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi assured the House that the Government would look into the issue and respond to it later.



AIADMK leader V Maitreyan also raised the matter during the Zero Hour and said while the Surface Transport Minister was honest in stating the truth in the upper House, the PMO was not truthful and the Prime Minister should come to the House and clarify the position.