disinvestmentNew Delhi, Jan 15 (PTI) Most members of a parliamentarypanel sought the withdrawal of a draft report opposing thedisinvestment of Air India at a stormy meeting today,prompting some opposition leaders to walk out in protest.
Sources, who were present in the meeting, told PTI thatthe Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism andCulture today decided to withdraw the contentious draftreport.
The panel's chairman and TMC leader Derek O Brien was notpresent at the meeting and it was chaired by BJP member RakeshSingh.
It could not be independently confirmed whether thepanel, in the absence of its chairman, could decide towithdraw a report.
The panel in its draft report had said it was not anappropriate time to divest stake in Air India and that theairline should be given at least five years to revive.
Out of the 31-member panel, 16 had given in writing theiropposition to adopting the draft report. The majority of thesemembers, who are also in favor of selling the government'sstake in the national carrier, are from the ruling BJP.
Strongly objecting to withdrawal of the report, threeopposition members--Kumari Shelja (Congress), Arpita Ghosh(TMC) and Ritabrata Banerjee, who was removed from CPI(M)--walked out of the meeting, sources said.
All the three members said that the officiating chairmanhad acted in a dictatorial manner and asserted that only thefull-time chairman had the power to withdraw a report, amember claimed.
While the officiating chairman maintained that he wasfollowing the rule book by withdrawing the draft report,majority of members were opposing the draft report.
"Parliament and parliamentary institutions are beingdestroyed by this government. They need counselling," O Brientold PTI.
"Any decision taken without the consent of the (panel's)chairman is legally not valid," panel member and seniorCongress leader K C Venugopal told PTI.
According to opposition members, Air India draft reportwas not on the agenda of today's meeting, which was to discussonly about the development of a Buddhist tourism circuit inthe country.
There are 31 MPs in all in the committee, with 15 fromthe BJP, and one each from its allies TDP and Apna Dal andRLSP. Three are from the Congress, three from the TMC and oneeach from SP, YSR Congress, RJD, NCP, BJD, CPI(M) and AIADMK.
PTI JTR RAMAAR.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.