Opposition attacks Baalu, targets Manmohan

MINISTER'S GUILT: Opposition parties want the Prime Minister to explain Baalu's conduct.

Other stories in the section:

Baalu, Deora get clean chit, PMO faces music

The Opposition declared that Baalu and the PMO committed 'ministerial impropriety'.

• Baalu aided family firms, PMO put in a word too
• Bangalore feels the pinch of the power crisis
• JD(S) committee meet to decide on trust vote: Gowda

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• Baalu, Deora get clean chit, PMO faces music
• Baalu aided family firms, PMO put in a word too
• Bangalore feels the pinch of the power crisis
• JD(S) committee meet to decide on trust vote: Gowda

Keywords: BJP, DMK

New Delhi: Shipping and Transport Minister T R Baalu refusal to regret for using his official position to help his son’s firms has angered the Opposition and even led to the BJP and the AIADMK coming together to challenge him.

Some of the anger Opposition is also directed at Rajya Sabha chairperson Hamid Ansari, who on Thursday ordered the removal of AIADMK M P Maitreya from the house. It was Maitreya who first alleged in the House that Baalu was pressuring the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to allocate gas to companies owned by his son.

The BJP and DMK, the main rival of Baalu’s DMK party, want the PMO to answer to give them an explanation. “Why was the PMO being used to help out the son of a minister?” said BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad.

The Congress kept quiet. Party spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan’s statement on the controversy was: “I have nothing more to add”

The Opposition targeting Baalu isn’t just Tamil Nadu politics being played out in Delhi. In an election year, when the NDA is cornering the government over inflation, this latest controversy gives it an opportunity to hit out at the Prime Minister.