New Delhi:
The allegations against P Chidambaram over the Aircel-Maxis deal took centrestage in Parliament, provoking ugly scenes of confrontation and quotes from Franciscan nuns. "God forgive them for they know not what they do," Mr Chidambaram said, as he declared that no member of his family owns any stake in either Aircel or Maxis, the company that bought the telecom venture in 2006. The BJP has decided to raise the issue again in parliament tomorrow, largely by questioning the assurances offered by Mr Chidambaram today.
The chaos today began before lunch when the BJP's Yashwant Sinha asked Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to make a statement on the controversy. Subramanian Swamy, the Janta Party President, claims that in 2006, when Mr Chidambaram was Finance Minister, he did not clear the sale of Aircel to Maxis for several months. In the meantime, Mr Swamy says, the minister's son Karti Chidambaram acquired stake in Aircel. It was only after this, Mr Swamy alleges, that Mr Chidambaram sanctioned the deal, allowing his son to make huge financial gains. The government has denied the allegations.
Amid cries of 'shame, shame' by the Opposition members, Mr Sinha said, "Prima facie what happened was a big scam and government should not hush it up." The Finance Minister responded brusquely. The house was adjourned.
Mr Mukherjee apologised in the evening for losing his temper, stating, "I tried to intervene in an issue which was raised by Honourable Sinha ji and certain others... I lost my temper which was not appropriate for me."
When the Lok Sabha reconvened after lunch, Mr Chidambaram tried to address the house with a statement sent by his son, Karti, on the Aircel deal. He struggled to be heard as he said, citing his son, that the "wild and reckless allegations" are untrue and that nobody from the minister's family owns any part of Aircel or Maxis. The minister said, "When I was a student I was taught by my Franciscan nuns 'God forgive them, for they know not what they do".
The BJP says that Mr Chidambaram had not served notice to deliver a statement and that he therefore violated protocol. Tomorrow, it will refer to allegations that Mr Chidambaram's son owns a company which does own stake currently in Aircel.