Oppn returns Agusta fire by raking up Guj KG Basin

Smarting under the attack by the government on party president Sonia Gandhi in the AgustaWestland Chopper deal case, the Congress members on Monday repeatedly demanded a response from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) pointing out anomalies in Gujarat’s KG Basin gas project.

The Congress members sought discussion on the latest report of CAG listing irregularities in Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation’s KG basin gas project. While the government said CAG reports are examined by Public Accounts Committees (PACs) of state assemblies and there was no convention to discuss those in Parliament, Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien said their notice seeking a discussion was under examination of the Chairman.

This did not satisfy Congress members who rushed into the Well of the House raising slogans Pradhan Mantri jawab do, jawab do, forcing house adjournment.

Talking to reporters from government’s side, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu accused the Congress of trying to divert the attention of people from AgustaWestland scam by raising “unnecessary” issues in the House. “Congress party wants to divert the attention of the people from Agusta chopper scam. So they are raising unnecessary and unconcerned issues in Parliament,” Naidu said outside Parliament while referring to disruptions in Rajya Sabha.

Earlier in the day, Deputy Chairman Kurien first adjourned the proceedings for 15 minutes till 11.30 am, then till noon and thereafter till 12.32 pm as similar scenes were repeated when the House reassembled after the brief breaks. No sooner were the listed papers laid, Madhusudan Mistry (Cong) sought to raise the issue of CAG slamming the handling of the KG Basin gas field project by Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GSPC), a state government entity.

While Mistry alleged irregularities of over Rs 30,000 crore were found, Anand Sharma (Cong) said the government has been running away from a discussion on the issue. “We want this issue to be settled... the matter has to be discussed,” he said.

Modi as Gujarat Chief Minister in 2005 had announced that GSPC had struck 20 Trillion cubic feet of gas reserves in its KG basin block. But recoverable reserves have proved to just one-tenth of that and GSPC’s borrowings shot up to Rs 19,716.27 crore as of March 31, 2015, according to the CAG report.

On Opposition’s demand Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said PAC of state assemblies go into CAG reports and Parliament does not discuss them. “These are diversionary tactics. They are trying to divert attention from AgustaWestland (helicopter) deal,” he said. As Congress members refused to relent, Kurien was on his feet asking agitated members to listen to him.

“Coming to the Well and shouting slogans is not justifiable, not acceptable. What are you going to achieve,” he asked, adding that the Congress members were encroaching upon the rights of 12 members who had given notices to raise Zero Hour submissions. As the din continued, Kurien adjourned the House.