The remote control finally seemed to have worked. Looking on amidst a forest of television cameras and microphones were Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, Vice-Admiral Madhvendra Singh and Chief Secretary Arun Bongirwar.

The Sena chief's unscheduled whirlwind tour of the warship followed the Express Newsline story that the ship had finally been auctioned on Thursday. The Sena chief, who only days earlier had told this newspaper that the state government had `scrapped the plan to scrap the Vikrant', finally cracked the whip on the state government machinery.

Sure enough, this morning, nearly everyone who mattered in the project was on board. ``We can happily say today that we have beenable to save the ship, the ship will be taken as a maritime museum and war memorial, it is just a matter of time now,'' Thackeray told newspersons. He said the state government would approach the Centre to transfer the ship within the month.

``It's a great feeling that this prestigious ship of the navy of the 60s, 70s and 80s is being saved and preserved for the people of the country,'' said a beaming and visibly relieved Vice-Admiral Madhvendra Singh.

Last year, the Ministry of Defence had decided to gift the Vikrant to the state government if it was converted into a museum and if the state spent the Rs 6 crore that was necessary to dry dock and refurbish the fast decaying ship. The navy had set a deadline this year that was quietly ignored by the state government.

The Rs 6.5 crore promised by Rane today will go towards refitting the ship and to pay the project consultants. The CM also promised to increase the allocation if the need arose.

Meanwhile, Rane fended off uncomfortable questions fromnewspersons on why the state government had delayed payment for so long. ``We did not receive a proposal from the navy,'' he said weakly.

Rane, who only a few months ago had turned down the project as being unaffordable sang a different tune today. ``The money will come from the state government, where else? The Maharashtra government has the capacity to pay the amount,'' Rane added.

``A few more days and the ship would have been sent to the breakers,'' said a naval offical. The evidence was all around. The ship has almost been stripped of all its useful machinery prior to the final voyage to the scrap yard.

Relieved at the last-minute intervention, senior naval officials were also indignant. ``Did it take a Kargil to wake up the sensitivities of a nation of one billion people,'' queried one official.

BALL IN GEORGE FERNANDES' COURT

The future of undoing the Vikrant auction now squarely rests with Defence Minister George Fernandes. Seventeen bids were received at the auction held by theMetal Scrap Trading Corporation (MSTC) on Thursday. The highest among them was for Rs 5.8 crore from Haryana Shipbreakers.

In a procedure that could last up to a month, the bids will now be scrutinised by the Naval Headquarters, Delhi, and then the Defence Ministry where a final decision will be taken. A clause in the tender contracts clearly mentions that the bids will be `subject to approval', meaning they can be rejected by the Defence Ministry.

A bidder who spoke to Express Newsline was surprised at the appallingly low price offered for the ship, considering the navy had estimated Rs 15 crore as its scrap value.