Govt hopes to bring Sena around

In his reply to a debate in the Rajya Sabha last Friday, Shourie had said the facts as presented by Nirupam were ‘‘fabricated’’. In his notice, Nirupam is believed to have stressed that his case against the sale decision was based on ‘‘documents’’ from the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Civil Aviation. He claimed Shourie’s accusations have ‘‘tarnished’’ his reputation and affected his functioning as a Member of Parliament.

The notice will go to Shourie for his comments before a decision is taken on whether to admit the motion. The Government would, however, like to avoid further embarrassment and there were indications that an effort would be made to persuade Nirupam to withdraw his notice.

The Sena, for the moment, is adamant. Nirupam has already demanded in the House that either the Government cancel the sale or order a CBI inquiry into his charges. Sena sources said the party will not agree to withdrawing the notice without a concession from the Government on one of these demands.

The Sena is under pressure from its activists who control the Mumbai Centaur Hotel trade union to get the sale stalled. The party’s leading trade unionist was gheraoed recently by angry hotel workers demanding that the Sena take up their cause.

The extent of the pressure on the Sena was evident from the fact that the its MPs made an issue of the Centaur sale in the Lok Sabha and demanded a debate. Speaker Manohar Joshi has agreed to the demand.