The Hindu : New Delhi News : Uproar in Assembly on power privatisation issue

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 27, 2007
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New Delhi

Uproar in Assembly on power privatisation issue

Staff Reporter

BJP legislators protest alleging corruption in the deal

Opposition leader Jagdish Mukhi raised the issue as soon as the House assembled
Demand by BJP chief whip Sahab Singh Chauhan to hand over the matter to the CBI

NEW DELHI: Buoyed by the success of their party in the Gujarat elections and eager to corner the Congress Government in Delhi, BJP MLAs mounted a vociferous protest alleging corruption in the power privatisation deal on Wednesday, the opening day of the three-day winter session of the Delhi Assembly.

Investigation

Opposition leader Jagdish Mukhi raised the issue as soon as the House assembled for the day. He said the report of the Public Accounts Committee on privatisation of the erstwhile Delhi Vidyut Board had been unanimously adopted by the House and had directed the Delhi Government to send the case for investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation but Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had not complied with it and that the notice of breach of privilege and contempt of the House moved by him in November 2006 had also been ignored.

Since Speaker Prem Singh insisted that the matter would only be allowed after Question Hour, all the BJP MLAs were up on their feet in protest. Prof. Mukhi charged that it was a Rs.12,500-crore scam and demanded that the Chief Minister be directed to make a statement on the matter. He was joined by former Delhi Minister Harsharan Singh Balli who said the matter amount to betrayal with the 40 crore people of Delhi.

Delhi BJP president Harsh Vardhan urged that the matter be debated. “No other question is more important than this at present,” he was heard saying. BJP chief whip Sahab Singh Chauhan also demanded that the matter be handed over to the CBI and soon all the party members began shouting slogans to demand this move.

As the Speaker assured the House that the matter would be allowed after Question Hour, the BJP MLAs allowed the proceeding to continue. However, as soon as the Question Hour got over they again raised the issue. When the BJP MLAs insisted on a reply from the Government, Power Minister A.K. Walia got up. He read from a Government note saying “in the said PAC report there is no mention of the Chief Minister or any Minister of the Delhi Government. The report mentions only names of some officers. Further they have been cleared by the CVC under which CBI comes”.

This led to a furore with the Opposition charging that while the CVC was to conduct a probe into the role of officers, the CBI probe should be ordered to investigate the role of the Chief Minister in the alleged scam. As the din continued, the House had to be adjourned twice.

Chamber

Speaking to the media in his chamber later, Prof. Mukhi declared that while the BJP had secured a nearly two-thirds majority in Gujarat, it would now secure at least three-fourths majority in the Delhi Assembly elections next year riding on the anger of the people against the Congress Government particularly on the power privatisation issue.

“What is the value of any discussion in the House if the decision cannot be or is not implemented?” he demanded to know.

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