Thaindian News

New Delhi, March 14 (IANS) Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal Monday faced opposition demand for his resignation over allegations of involvement in a multi-crore-rupee fraud in allotment of shops in Chandigarh, leading to several disruptions in both houses of parliament.

Bansal, a four-time MP from Chandigarh, though denied the charges made in a 700-page inquiry report submitted to the union territory government by a senior Punjab Civil Services officer. He challenged Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj to contest the next parliamentary polls from his constituency.

The probe report alleged irregularities in the allotment of small kiosks at subsidised rates in Chandigarh.

The shop allotment scam comes in quick succession of other scams, such as the 2G spectrum allotment, the Commonwealth Games and the Adarsh Housing Society that rocked parliament in the winter session.

As the Lok Sabha met for the day, BJP MPs waved copies of the inquiry report in which Bansal was named as a beneficiary of the preferential allotment of shops said to have been made by “a mafia” that in turn compensated local politicians through pay-offs.

As the opposition MPs trooped towards the speaker’s podium and did not allow the crucial question hour to continue smoothly, the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the first time in the day. When it re-assembled, Swaraj raised the issue again, reading out relevant passages from the inquiry report, and asking for a CBI probe into the alleged scam.

Bansal questioned the veracity of the probe report by former Chandigarh official P.S. Shergill, who is now a senior bureaucrat in Punjab, and said the allegations were “baseless and cheap gimmick” and an effort to “villify” him.

“I have nothing to hide. In fact, that would be in my interest if any inquiry is conducted,” Bansal said in an emotional statement in the house.

“It is a conspiracy to tarnish my image. I am honest and clean. I have done nothing wrong. These are baseless charges, a cheap gimmick by those who have lost elections in Chandigarh. I had never thought they would stoop so low,” he said, challenging Sushma Swaraj to contest the next Lok Sabha election from Chandigarh.

“Come and meet me after three years. Let’s see who gets elected to the Lok Sabha from Chandigarh,” Bansal said to Swaraj.

Sushma Swaraj objected to Bansal’s “cheap gimmick” remark, calling it “unparliamentary”.

Replying to his election challenge, the BJP leader said: “I will get you defeated by a local candidate. I need not contest to defeat you.”

In the Rajya Sabha, BJP members S.S. Ahluwalia and Rajiv Pratap Rudy raised the Chandigarh shop allotment issue during Zero Hour. Deputy Chairman K. Rahman Khan, who was chairing the session, said Chairman Hamid Ansari had not allowed their petition to raise the issue.

The Rajya Sabha was disrupted thrice as the BJP members sought discussion on the alleged involvement of Pawan Kumar Bansal in the scam.

Samajwadi Party members, meanwhile, sought to raise the issue of alleged atrocities on their party workers in Uttar Pradesh.

Many members also raised the issue of pilots getting flying licences through forged documents and said it could put at risk the lives of passengers.

“The arrest of an Air India pilot by the crime branch of Delhi Police is a matter of concern and it shows the aviation department is not taking the issue seriously,” Bharatiya Janata Party member Kalraj Mishra said during Zero Hour.

Two cases of pilots having submitted fake documents for getting licences have come to light recently.

Both houses of parliament also paid tributes to the victims of the massive earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan Friday, with Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari reading out condolence messages and the members observing a minute-long silence in homage to the victims.