Arvind Kejriwal accuses Narendra Modi of favouring companies

New Delhi: Aam Admi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal Tuesday accused Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi of giving undue favours to some corporate companies and said the impression of him being honest was wrong. He also attacked the Congress for not raising the alleged wrongdoings of Modi, saying that the two were acting as "business partners" and "partners in loot".

Addressing a press conference here with his associate Prashant Bhushan, Kejriwal accused Modi of "buying peace with the Congress and the judiciary" by giving them land at concessional rates. He alleged Modi had showered special favours to the Adani Group and agreed to purchase power from the company at a rate double of what was offered by Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation. Kejriwal alleged Modi had granted land to the Adanis in Kutch area at throwaway prices. "Modi has an image that he is honest. But papers show there is something wrong. It appears that Modi and the Congress are business partners," Kejriwal said. He alleged that Modi had gifted away 20 percent of Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation`s (GSPC) stake in the Krishna-Godavari Basin to two companies, Geo Global and Jubilant Enpro Private limited. "The first question is: how were these two companies identified? According to records, it was not through any competitive bidding. These two companies were simply given away the participating interests in these gas fields free of cost," he alleged further. Kejriwal added: "Geo Global was incorporated just six days before their agreement with GSPC. On the day of the agreement, its total capital was $64 (Rs.3,200) only. The company is owned by some Jean Paul Roy. So, from a Rs.3,200 worth company, it became a Rs.10,000 crore worth company within six days." "Interestingly, GSPC has spent $3 billion as cost of exploration. Since Geo Global has a 10 per cent stake, 10 per cent of this cost of $300 million (Rs.1,500 crore) should have been borne by Geo Global. However, the Modi government paid this money on their behalf and did not recover it from them. Why did Modi do that? Who is Jean Paul Roy? What is Modi`s relationship with Jean Paul Roy?" asked Kejriwal. Jubilant Energy, in a statement issued Tuesday, denied Kejriwal`s accusations alleging a gift of 10 percent participating interest in the KG Deendayal gas block off the Andhra Pradesh coast. "Jubilant Energy, a subsidiary of Jubilant Enpro, won the block in international competitive bidding in the third round of New Exploration Licensing Policy of the government of India. Jubilant Energy is a partner in the block and pays fully for its 10 percent share of expenditure," the statement added. Jubilant Energy is the original partner in the block with GSPC as the operator of the block, it said. "The block was awarded to Jubilant Energy by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas with 22 other blocks at the same time to various parties," the statement said. Kejriwal also said the Gujarat government had been allotting concessional plots of land to MPs and MLAs in prime areas of Gandhinagar for constructing houses, but most of them have sold these plots at much higher rates. "Why did the Congress, which is the opposition party (in Gujarat), not raise its voice against this scheme? Because MPs and MLAs from Congress also have got plots and they have also benefitted from this scheme," said Kejriwal. "The Gujarat High Court stayed the sale of these plots. In order to keep the judges happy, Modi gave concessional plots to all the sitting, retired and promoted judges of Gujarat High Court in April 2010. Barring a few judges, all the other judges accepted this Modi`s offer," he added. "Since then, this petition has not been heard by Gujarat High Court. Has the judiciary been effectively silenced," Kejriwal asked. IANS