Land deal evokes heat

GANDHINAGAR, Feb 11: Heated exchanges were reported to have taken place between Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel and Civil Supplies Ministe...

GANDHINAGAR, Feb 11: Heated exchanges were reported to have taken place between Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel and Civil Supplies Minister Jaspal Singh at an informal Cabinet meeting on Wednesday over the issue of a controversial land deal in Vadodara.

It all started when the Chief Minister placed for discussion at the meeting a proposal to give back the possession of 10,000 sq mtrs of the price land to its original owner which had been acquired for expansion of the government-run vaccine institute on the Old Padra Road in Vadodara.

Jaspal Singh, backed by some of his ministerial colleagues, was learnt to have opposed the proposal, contending that the land had been acquired for public purpose for the expansion of government institute manufacturing anti-rabies vaccines and that it could not be given back to the private party, and that, too, at a throwaway price.

Supporting Singh8217;s contention, a senior minister reportedly charged at the meeting that a powerful builders8217; lobby of Vadodara was interested in getting the land released for commercial purpose, which should not be allowed in any case. The estimated cost of the plot of the land in question is Rs 10 crore, he said.

The Chief Minister hit back at the Civil Supplies Minister and reportedly cautioned him that the former would not tolerate any quot;dissenting notequot;, especially when any Cabinet decision is taken unanimously in the quot;larger interests of the Statequot;.

A minister loyal to the Chief Minister intervened to say that the proposal was mooted to fulfill a promise the BJP leadership had given to a legislator from Vadodara that the land would be released, as the MLA wanted, if he joined the party. But, Singh said such a promise could not be fulfilled by mortgaging people8217;s interests. Some other ministers endorsed Singh8217;s views.

Jaspal Singh succeeded in his protest, as finally the proposal was put off and referred to the three-member Cabinet sub-committee headed by the Chief Minister.

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Meanwhile, Jaspal Singh in a statement on Thursday clarified that the Chief Minister, as per established democratic norms and traditions, usually encourage his ministers to discuss proposals freely at Cabinet meetings and quot;it is but natural that such a discussion takes place among ministersquot;.

The minister, however, described as distorted8217; the reports appearing in a section of the press that heated exchanges had taken place between him and the Chief Minister at the Cabinet meeting on the land issue. quot;It is deplorable that the reports were published with malafide intention to spoil amiable relations between me and the Chief Minister,quot; he claimed in the statement.