Balco -- It's not over yet, says Jogi, plays tribal card

Balco -- It's not over yet, says Jogi, plays tribal card
SANJIV SINHA

NEW DELHI, MARCH 3: In an apparent attempt to gain political mileage among Chhattisgarh's largely tribal constituency, Chief Minister Ajit Jogi is continuing to cry foul even after the NDA Goverment has carried the debate on the BALCO deal in its favour in the Lok Sabha and effected the sale transaction with Sterlite Industries.

An adamant Jogi said today that his government would appeal in the Supreme Court against the disinvestment of the Korba-based PSU. ``We will file a special leave petition before the Supreme Court for initiating contempt of court proceedings against the NDA Government since by selling BALCO to a private party, they have clearly violated an earlier ruling of the country's highest court,'' Jogi told The Indian Express.

Showing no sign of climbing down from his earlier stand even though his party's central leadership has run out of steam on the issue, Jogi asserted that ``disinvestment of BALCO was a violation of a Supreme Court order of 1997 which clearly ruled that no land or mining lease in tribal areas can be transferred to non-tribals''.

He claimed that the land on which BALCO was located was notified under Schedule V of the Constitution as tribal land and as such it cannot be alienated except to the state government or a state-owned corporation.

While the local revenue courts in Korba have already issued notices to the the Union Disinvestment Ministry and Sterlite Industries reverting the land with BALCO to the original owners, the local administration in Korba is going to undertake a similar exercise over the bauxite mining lease granted to BALCO.

Aiming to play on the emotions of the tribals in his state, Jogi said that the ``people's court'' was the other option available before his government to keep Sterlite Industries from operating in the state. ``People all over the state are agitated over the deal, so are the workers who have already gone on strike...In a democracy no power can win against the will of the people,'' he said.

Having described the BALCO issue as one of ``exploitation of tribals versus development'', Jogi seems intent on politicising the issue as much as possible. His opposition to BALCO has now got more to do with state-level politics and its more than apparent that he wants to keep the issue alive as long as possible so that he can upp the ante on the BJP there and emerge as a ``keeper of the tribal cause''.

His no-holds barred opposition to BALCO, apart from putting him on a collision course with the Centre, is also reportedly giving ``anxious moments'' to the Congress' central leadership which obviously wants to avoid an ugly showdown between a Congress-ruled state and the BJP-led Centre.

While the party went hammer and tongs against the BALCO deal in Parliament, its stated policy that it is in favour of disinvestment in principle. The treasury benches have been quick to point out to an uncomfortable Congress that disinvestment and other reform-oriented policies were initiated by them when they were in power.