Balco -- Govt gets LS nod as allies fall in line

Balco -- Govt gets LS nod as allies fall in line
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

NEW DELHI, MARCH 1: The Atal Behari Vajpayee Government today got Parliament's endorsement for the BALCO deal after it sailed through the Opposition-sponsored motion seeking a joint parliamentary committee probe into the decision. The final tally said it all -- only 119 members supported the motion while a whopping 239 MPs went against it. There were three abstentions.

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The motion was put to vote after Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie gave a spirited reply to the points raised by the Opposition parties during the six-hour debate. He demolished their arguments one by one -- at one point, even CPI(M) stalwart Somnath Chatterjee was seen nodding his head in appreciation. Vajpayee and Home Minister L K Advani were seen congratulating Shourie after his speech.

Shourie was ably aided by his predecessor, Arun Jaitley, who took the floor after Pal had initiated the discussion. In his speech, the Law Minister quoted extensively from the 1998 and 1999 election manifestoes of the Congress and the United Front government's common minimum programme, which had been signed by the two Left parties, to run down the Opposition.

Criticising the Opposition for ``stating half-truths for misleading the people and destructing the course of public debate in the matter,'' Shourie said the Government had gone in for international bidding. ``In the end, there were only three bidders left, including Hindalco, Sterlite and Alcoa. The last company subsequently pulled out saying that the plants were too obsolete,'' he observed.

The decision, according to him, was in consonance with the Disinvestment Commission's recommendations of April 1997. ``It had then asked the Government to disinvest 40 per cent of its stake, bring it (the government share) down to 26 per cent and then get out completely,'' he said.

He dared Chattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi to come forward with a bidder who was willing to pay more. ``He says the company is worth Rs 4,000 crore. Let him get a buyer who is willing to pay Rs 4,500 crore. We'll pay Sterlite Rs 500 crore and ask it to go,'' Shourie said amidst loud thumping of desks.

He also denied Chatterjee's allegation that the Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh chief ministers had not been consulted. ``The two governments had, in fact, been helpful at each stage. It is with their cooperation that all was done,'' he said, showing letters written to the two governments at various stages.

He also defended the decision to hand over the company to Sterlite -- a Rs 3,500-crore group that had taken over a sick Tamil Nadu-based aluminium company, MELCO, four years ago and turned it around after pumping in a fresh investment of Rs 400 crore.

The Lok Sabha had its share of drama too. Immediately after CPI(M) member Rup Chand Pal had finished seeking clarifications on the motion, BSP members, led by their mercurial leader, Mayawati, trooped into the well of the House seeking the Government's assurance that it would ensure reservation in jobs for the SC/STs in the private sector. With the Prime Minister looking on, they shouted slogans against the ``dalit virodhi'' (anti-Dalit) government. But Speaker G M C Balayogi would have none of it and asked them to resume their seats.