The Prime Minister says shut it

In perhaps the first instance in recent years of an entire system being reversed in one stroke, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today or...

In perhaps the first instance in recent years of an entire system being reversed in one stroke, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today ordered the cancellation of as many as 3,158 petrol pumps, LPG agencies and kerosene oil outlets allotted across the country since January 2000.

The order from the Prime Minister came after the petrol pump scam was exposed in a nationwide investigation by The Indian Express into how friends and family of BJP leaders cornered a majority of pumps and agencies. The PM’s order today made it clear that these would all be ‘‘auctioned on the basis of competitive bidding.’’

What happens now

The petrol and LPG outlets may take a fortnight to actually stop operation, after which the oil companies will take over. Meanwhile:
• Ministry likely to order companies to withdraw dealership tomorrow
• Dealers to return outlets to regional officers. Fresh supplies to be stopped
• If ministry asks companies to take over before stocks are liquidated, a govt-approved evaluator will assess the worth of the dealers’ assets
• Dealers to be paid cost price within a week of the letter of termination
• Consumers of cancelled agency to be transferred to neighbouring outlet
• The surplus money generated from the commercial bidding likely to be paid into the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund

Directing the Petroleum Ministry to work out the modalities for re-allotment, the PMO stated that allotments made to the families of Kargil martyrs would remain unaffected.

The decision to cancel the allotments was taken this afternoon by Vajpayee at a meeting attended by Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh, Petroleum Minister Ram Naik, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan and Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Under pressure from a section of the party to brazen it out, Vajpayee refused to wilt. He had the final say, deciding on cancellation of all allotments despite Naik keeping up his more than brave face saying there was no wrongdoing at all. The meeting was called after an angry Opposition, demanding Naik’s resignation and cancellation of allotments, forced both Houses of Parliament to be adjourned for the day.

This morning, The Indian Express ran the instalment on Lucknow where the list began with Aparna Mishra, wife of Raj Mishra who claimed he was a nephew of the Prime Minister and used the PM’s permanent address for the allotment.

Aparna Mishra, according to a news agency, claimed that she had done no wrong and she would contest the order. When contacted by The Indian Express, she refused to comment.

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Ruling out his resignation over the issue, Naik called a press conference to announce that there would be no delay in carrying out the Prime Minister’s order. ‘‘I will ensure oil companies implement the decision in such a way that there will be no disruption in supply.’’ The allotments scrapped are those of 1,134 petrol pumps, 1,788 LPG agencies and 236 kerosene oil outlets spread across the country.

Maintaining he and his ministry had no role in the allotments done by the Dealer Selection Boards, Naik said the cancellation order stemmed from ‘‘the situation created after the selection, the way it appeared in a section of the media and the manner in which it was not allowed to be discussed in the House.’’

What Naik refused to mention was the blatant loopholes in the system that he set up, which were pointed out by the Parliamentary Standing Committee and reported in the newspaper on Saturday.

Asked whether the PM’s order was an admission of the facts in The Indian Express reports, Naik said, ‘‘The reports have been taken into consideration. The Press has done its duty. I explained the situation at the meeting. In the Ministry, we don’t keep records on who belongs to which party.’’

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Ahead of the meeting called by the PM, Naik told reporters that he would make a statement on the issue only in the House as he was bound by parliamentary norms. He was at the receiving end in the Lok Sabha where Opposition members trooped into the well of the House, shouting ‘‘We want resignation’’ and ‘‘BJP ne kya kiya, desh ko loot liya (what has the BJP done, it has looted the country.)’’

As Sonia Gandhi, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Somnath Chatterjee watched, members from their parties waved newspaper reports in the well and argued with Speaker Manohar Joshi on how he could allow question hour to proceed when they were demanding Naik’s resignation, cancellation of allotments and a CBI probe into the matter.