M A I N   N E W S

Balco issue rocks House again
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 26
The Balco issue continued to rock Parliament for the third day today even as the government gave an assurance that the transfer of shares of the public sector undertaking (PSU) would be held in abeyance till March 1 to enable Parliament to vet the Rs 551 crore deal.

Angry Opposition members led by the Congress forced the adjournment of question hour in the Lok Sabha on the day when the Railway Budget was to be presented.

The members were protesting against Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee making statements outside Parliament in defence of the deal. In the Rajya Sabha also, Congress Chief Whip Pranab Mukherjee raised this issue and said that the Prime Minister should not be making statements outside when Parliament was in session.

In the Lok Sabha, the members did not allow question hour to carry on and stormed into the Well of the House, forcing the Speaker, Mr G.M.C. Balayogi to adjourn the House till 12 noon.

No sooner had the House assembled for the day, Congress member Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi sought to know how the Prime Minister was making statements on the issue outside when the House was scheduled to discuss it.

This triggered a chain reaction as the Opposition members started raising slogans and plunged the House into chaos.

The issue also had its echo in the Rajya Sabha where Mr Pranab Mukherjee raised an objection, forcing the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr Pramad Mahajan, to make a statement.

Brushing aside the charges, Mr Mahajan said that the transfer of the 51 per cent of government holding would be held in abeyance, which even otherwise takes time, till March 1 to enable Parliament to vet the deal.

He asserted that the government had nothing to hide on the deal and that it was ready for a discussion on the issue. He pointed out that it was up to the Chairman, Mr Krishan Kant, to fix the time for the debate.

He also defended the Prime Minister’s statement outside Parliament.