The government’s likely refrain became clear from both the Congress and Petroleum Minister Murli Deora’s positioning on Tuesday, with the former defending the PMO and the latter saying that Mr Baalu had committed “no crime” by making the request to PMO to put in a word with his ministry.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V Narayanswami announced in Rajya Sabha after Opposition BJP and AIADMK raised the issue for the fifth consecutive day, that Mr Deora would make the statement on the government position on the matter on Wednesday.

However, Mr Deora said outside the House, “There is no nepotism here. I don’t know what nepotism you are talking about. Everyday we get requests from people. If somebody tells me this is a question of 2,000 people losing their jobs I will call my people. I will ask them the truth. We are here to help people not harass.”

Earlier, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj stood up as soon as Zero Hour began and wanted to know when the government would make a statement on the issue as had been assured by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vyalar Ravi.

Congress, meanwhile, strongly defended the PMO on the matter, saying it had done “nothing inappropriate” by forwarding the request from Mr Baalu to put in a word with the Petroleum Minister for expediting the release of the requested amount of gas.