Baalu aided family firms, PMO put in a word too

UPA IN HIS POCKET: The Congress can't afford to offend Transport Minister T R Baalu.

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Keywords: Parliament, Rajya Sabha

New Delhi: Shipping and Transport Minister T R Baalu on Wednesday admitted he had “used” his official position to seek allocation of gas for a company owned by his family.

“Yes, I put in a word with the Petroleum Minister after the UPA Government was formed in 2004. What is wrong in it?” he said about the company, which he has headed in the past. Baalu’s frank admission is not the end of the story though.

CNN-IBN learns that the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has written at least eight letters to the Petroleum Ministry, requesting it to provide gas to two companies owned by Baalu’s two sons.

Baalu put pressure on the PMO and summoned the chairperson of the Gas Authority of India Ltd. (GAIL) almost ordering him to release gas for King Chemical and King Power, the companies his sons own. GAIL was pressured to help the companies though the Cabinet Secretary has admitted that gas is scare in the Cauvery Basin.

Baalu, while speaking in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, justified his action. He alleged the NDA had stopped supplies to his sons’ firms because his party (the DMK) left the NDA before the Lok Sabha polls in 2004.

The controversy is not going to affect Baalu’s position in the Government though. The DMK is an import an ally of the government and its support is considered indispensable.

Baalu’s ministerial colleagues were guarded when asked to comment on the controversy. “There should be a discussion on this issue and there should be an unwritten code of conduct about this,” said Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal.

CPI-M leader Brinda Karat, whose party supports the Government from the outside, said there was conflict of interest “Parliament must definitely look into it”.

Janta Party leader Subramaniam Swamy demanded the matter be probed—by the Prime Minister’s Office.