Headlines
Congress defends Manmohan Singh, says allocation above board
New Delhi, March 11
The Congress on Wednesday
strongly defended former prime minister Manmohan Singh following his
being summoned in a coal block-allocation case and expressed confidence
that the process of "allocating 15 percent share" to Hindalco will be
found to be above board.
Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, however, said Manmohan Singh was paying for the "sins" of the Congress party.
Within
hours of a special court here on Wednesday summoning Manmohan Singh
over allocation of coal blocks in Odisha, the Congress held a special
media briefing and outlined the steps taken by Manmohan Singh to bring
transparency in coal block allocations during the United Progressive
Alliance (UPA) government's tenure.
Industrialist Kumar Mangalam
Birla and former coal secretary P.C. Parakh were also summoned by the
court in the allocation concerning Talabira II block.
Congress
spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said Manmohan Singh's integrity, fairness
and impartiality was "unquestionable" and was recognised both within
and outside the country.
He also said the decision to allocate
the block to Hindalco, when Manmohan Singh also held the coal portfolio,
was based on recommendation of the Odisha government and then coal
secretary P.C. Parakh.
"The CBI has found the entire allocation
process above board and transparent," Surjewala said. "We are confident
that examination of full facts (will) unequivocally establish fairness
and transparency in which 15 percent share was allotted to Hindalco."
Manmohan
Singh, who has earlier given his statement to the CBI, on Wednesday
said he was "upset" by the court summons but was "sure truth will
prevail".
"Of course, I am upset but this is part of life. I have
respect for the judicial process. I have stated my position before the
CBI. I have issued statements also justifying what we did," he told
reporters.
Surjewala accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of "poor
attempt" to politicise the judicial process to divert attention of the
people from the "black" bill on land acquisition.
Surjewala said
coal block allocations were made by a screening committee from 1993 till
2005 when Manmohan Singh initiated a change to bring in transparency
and the committee started accepting applications on the basis of
advertisement.
Surjewala said Manmohan Singh called a meeting in
July 2005 of states with high reserves of coal and sought to change the
process of allocation from steering committee to auction. "It was
opposed by the BJP governments," he said.
He said letters were
written by the then BJP governments in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh as
also by the BJD government in Odisha and Left Front government in West
Bengal against changing the process of allocation.
"Despite this,
Manmohan Singh and the UPA persuaded (them) through broad process of
consultation and it fructified in what is now known as the process of
coal allocation through competitive bidding," Surjewala said.
He said the initiative for competitive bidding was taken in February 2012.
Surjewala also said Hindalco wrote to Manmohan Singh in May 2005 for allocation of Talabira blocks.
He
said Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik wrote a letter to the prime
minister in August 2005 conveying that the block should be allocated to
Hindalco.
He said the coal ministry took a decision to allocate
only 15 percent share in Talabira block to Hindalco while the remaining
share was allocated to two other entities.
"The process was transparent. The decision was taken keeping in view the stance of the Odisha government," he said.
Answering
queries, Surjewala said Manmohan Singh respected the judicial process
and will take part in it. "We are confident that the decision will be
found to be above board."
Manmohan Singh was questioned in
January in connection with the allocation of Talabira II and III coal
blocks in Odisha to Hindalco in 2005 when he also held the coal
portfolio.
Javadekar said the Congress was responsible for
bringing former prime minister "to this threshold". "It is a Congress
scam and because of the Congress's sin, Manmohan ji, the economist
(former) prime minister, has to face this," Javadekar told reporters.
Congress
leader Kapil Sibal said he was "saddened" at Manmohan Singh being
summoned by a court in the coal block-allocation case.