The T R Baalu issue is far from getting a burial as the Opposition on Wednesday remained adamant that the Prime Minister would have to make a statement on it even as Petroleum Minister Murli Deora told the Rajya Sabha that though the PMO had made “certain references”, it had not issued “any order” to help Baalu’s family-owned company.

The Opposition, livid that the Prime Minister left the Upper House minutes before Mr Deora was to read out the statement, said it would not rest till Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh himself made a statement in Parliament.
“Why should we listen to Mr Deora? We want the PM to give a statement on the issue when the House meets again next week,” BJP leader Sushma Swaraj said, adding that her party would prepare a strategy in the next four days on how to approach the matter when Parliament re-opened on Monday. Her views were echoed by AIADMK’s V Maitreyan.

Earlier, the Opposition members forced adjournment of the Upper House by continuously chanting “We want PM” even as Mr Deora just managed to read out his prepared statement defending the PMO amidst the din.

“The PMO has not issued any order or any instructions to help the company (Kings India Power Corporation Ltd, owned by Mr Baalu’s family),” he said, adding that “certain references were received from PMO in a routine manner without any recommendation on the basis of a representation made by Selvakumar Baalu, the director of the company.”

Mr Deora, however, admitted that the Union shipping & surface transport minister had met him to brief him about the “great injustice done to workers and investors” of the company. “But not a single cubic metre of gas has been supplied to the company,” he said.

The Petroleum Minister said that the company had submitted a petition to the prime minister detailing how the previous NDA government had cancelled the gas allocation to it.