New Delhi, July 28
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was under a siege at the ongoing three-day National Executive meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party with his External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh and Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha bearing the main brunt of an attack from some prominent members of the party.

The Finance Minister was singled out for the UTI bungling and the External Affairs Minister was chosen for the policy towards Pakistan, sources said.

Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat attacked Mr Jaswant Singh for offering to open a border checkpost at Munabao in Rajasthan and other unilateral measures announced by India towards Pakistan. Mr Shekhawat made it clear that unless Islamabad agreed to stop cross-border terrorism, opening of additional checkposts would only aggravate militancy.

Similarly, some senior leaders also criticised Mr Sinha for economic policies and the UTI fiasco which has shaken the confidence of around two crore small investors endangering resource-mobilisation efforts for developmental purposes.

Briefing newspersons about the second day and yesterday evening’s deliberations at the meeting, party spokesman Anil Shastri denied that the two ministers came under attack, but admitted that there was a general consensus that Mr Vajpayee should not visit Pakistan until Islamabad agreed to discuss cross border terrorism.

During the discussions on the draft economic resolution, Mr Sinha was criticised for his economic policies which had contributed to economic slowdown and industrial recession, sources said.

Executive Committee members said not only the UTI had been mismanaged, but even other financial institutions like the IDBI needed to be brought under watch.

The economic resolution adopted at the meeting has demanded that the crisis-ridden UTI be barred from investing in private placement of shares at prices, higher than the prevailing market prices besides a thorough probe into the nexus between the corporate sector and the country’s largest mutual fund.

The economic resolution has sought a thorough probe into all investment decisions of the UTI in the past 10 years.

The resolution, which had to be re-drafted in the face of widespread criticism at the executive, appealed to the government to take immediate corrective steps like including strict vigilance on the functioning of the entire financial system, including institutions like the IDBI, the GIC and the LIC.

It suggested that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) be empowered along the lines of the Securities Exchange Commission of the USA so that transactions of institutions like the UTI were more transparent and accountable.

It said as the UTI had been playing a pivotal role with investment of over Rs 60,000 crore mobilised from small investors through its various schemes, including US-64, these steps were necessary to restore the shaken confidence of around two crore small investors.

In a brief reply to the concern expressed by members on the UTI fiasco, Mr Sinha said a probe was already on and those found guilty would not be spared, Mr Shastri said. The draft resolution, critical of the government’s economic policies, was withdrawn as it was felt that such a criticism would give the Opposition a handle to attack the government in Parliament, sources pointed out.

The draft, which had been circulated to members, was almost immediately withdrawn and the three-member committee, comprising the External Affairs and Defence Minister, Convener of Economic Cell Jagdish Shettigar and Mr Shastri, prepared the final resolution.

The resolution suggested that all stock exchanges be professionalised in the same way as the National Stock Exchange and the SEBI induct professionals with adequate exposure to capital markets.