Congress today raked up the issue of Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) to accuse Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan of making attempts to "palm off" the KG gas block of the state government's undertaking to ONGC to "protect" Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
GSPC is in controversy in the wake of it running up debts to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore during the decade when Modi was the Gujarat Chief Minister.
Pradhan has virtually turned into an investment banker to force a "merger" between ONGC and GSPC's KG block and is making "outrageous claims" to justify such a course of action, Party spokesman Jairam Ramesh told reporters.
"Pradhan is desperate to protect his Pradhan Mantri. He wants to palm off GSPC's KG block to another PSU--ONGC," he said.
Insisting that it was time to call the "bluff" of GSPC and its patron Narendra Modi, he said the CAG report was tabled on the last day of the previous Gujarat assembly session.
"It has not even been discussed yet. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat when GSPC had got the KG block.
"The CAG has clearly pointed out malfeasance of Rs 20,000 crore. This is not even a presumptive loss but an actual one," he said, demanding an independent inquiry by a former Supreme Court judge to look into the allegations of the CAG.
"Until then, there should be no transfer of these assets to another PSU in an attempt to wash away past sins," Ramesh said.
