Here’s what we ‘stole and twisted’

Union Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, who lost the Petroleum ministry in the recent Cabinet reshuffle, singled out The Indian Express for speci...

Union Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, who lost the Petroleum ministry in the recent Cabinet reshuffle, singled out The Indian Express for special treatment in an interview with Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN on Sunday. He said: ‘‘Let me first say that The Indian Express is the only newspaper which editorially welcomed my being sacked.’’ Responding to a question, he said: ‘‘This particular correspondent, Amitav Ranjan, and I would like to say this on camera, is an expert at taking and stealing documents and then twisting its meaning precisely in a way that it can mislead you.’’

Here are some of the stories — about Aiyar’s ministry that Senior Editor Amitav Ranjan filed — that may explain why Aiyar isn’t amused:

September 14, 2005 Autonomy Aiyar style: Pack oil PSUs with Cong men, women
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Aiyar ignores government guidelines for appointment of independent directors to navratnas or miniratnas — drawn from prominent bureaucrats, professors, institute heads, or corporate leaders — to pack boards of oil PSUs with Congress politicians. From ex-ministers and Congress workers to a former DUSU president make it instead of, among others, V P Singh (Ex-CMD, IFCI); Bakul Dholakia (Professor, IIMA); P K Choudury (MD, IRCA); Rajat Gupta (Ex-Managing Partner, McKinsey & Co); T S Vijayaraghavan (Ex-Petroleum Secy)

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August 30, 2005 ONGC chief to Govt: Stop infiltrating board or I will quit
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Subir Raha writes a letter to Aiyar protesting against ‘‘intimidation’’ over Govt decision to foist two nominees. One of the two appointments is that of the man who plays the regulator — undeniably a conflict of interest

August 27, 2005 Mum’s the word for Mani Shankar Aiyar
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Rahul Gandhi asks the Petroleum Minister to revive Satish Sharma’s plan of petroleum school in Rae Bareli; Aiyar says sorry, doesn’t make sense. Within two months, Aiyar swallows his words after a letter from Sonia

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March 9, 2005 On pipeline, India gets a gentle US reminder: Iran is worry area
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Ahead of Aiyar’s visit to Islamabad on Iran-India gas pipeline, US Ambassador Mulford tells him that Tehran’s N-programme is causing deep concern in US.

Rahul Gandhi attacks EC: What happened in Aland, who can delete names from electoral roll

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Rahul Gandhi accuses Chief Election Commissioner of protecting those attacking Indian democracy. He cites the alleged deletion of 6018 votes in Karnataka's Aland constituency during the 2023 election. EC responds, saying irregularity was caught and complaint filed. BLOs can delete names from electoral roll, but verification process required. Form 7 used, with opportunity for objections.

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