JOIN US The BJD-AIADMK tango with the government in the Lok Sabha on the issue of former finance minister P Chidambaram’s role in the Aircel-Maxis deal caught the Congress completely unawares on Wednesday.
Congress members were reduced to mere onlookers as Speaker Sumitra Mahajan quickly accepted the notice given by BJD leader Bhratruhari Mahtab to discuss the Aircel-Maxis deal after doing through the motions of seeking the sense of the House.
Trinamool Congress member Saugata Ray did raise a point of order contending that persons mentioned in the notice were not members of the House and that the matter was before courts.
The Speaker gave her ruling that the notice given by Mahtab did not refer to any person and hence a discussion can be taken up in the House.
As Mahtab started narrating the chain of events that led to the acquisition of Chennai-based Aircel by Malaysian company Maxis in “complete violation” of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board rules by the then finance minister, Congress members rushed to the well of the House to register their protest.
Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, K C Venugopal, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary, gathered around party president Sonia Gandhi discussing the next move.
Later, Kharge led a walkout by Congress members from the House alleging that injustice was being meted out to them by not allowing them to put their views.
Mahtab and AIADMK member T G Venkatesh Babu accused the BJP government of delaying the prosecution of those accused in the Aircel-Maxis deal.