Congress members in the Rajya Sabha on Monday yet again raised the issue of liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who has allegedly defaulted on over Rs 9,000 crore bank loans, and demanded that the industrialist be brought back to India along with former IPl chief lalit Modi. This, even as the Ethics Committee of the Rajya Sabha, headed by Congress veteran Karan Singh, took cognizance of the Mallya issue following notices given by Opposition members.
Congress members trooped in the Well and raised slogans half way through the Zero Hour after its member Pramod Tiwari raised the issue. The party had raised the issue last week also. Tiwari, while raising the matter, claimed that the beleaguered industrialist was elected to the Rajya Sabha with BJP support.
Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien said Tiwari’s notice on the Mallya issue has not been accepted by Chairman Hamid Ansari. However, Congress members kept raising slogans like ‘Vijay Mallya, Modi Ko Wapas lao, Wapas lao’ from the Well.
Chairman Hamid Ansari referred the matter to the Ethics Committee. “The question regarding Mallya was earlier raised in the House in the morning. The Chairman referred the matter to the Ethics Committee. Our meeting was decided earlier. There were two more issues. Now we have taken up this third issue as well. We have taken its cognizance. Now we will proceed on it as per our rules,” said Karan Singh after the panel meeting.
When asked about the next meeting of the panel, the Congress leader said that a date has not been fixed as yet. “But meetings will happen,” he said. To a specific question as to what will happen in the matter, Singh quipped, “Ask any fortune-teller, what will happen. Why do you ask meIJ”
The 10-member committee headed by Singh comprises Satish Chandra Misra (BSP), Avinash Rai Khanna (BJP), Sharad Yadav (JDU), Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M), Mukul Roy (Trinamool Congress), Neeraj Shekhar (Samajwadi Party), A Navaneethakrishnan (AIADMK) and Devender Goud T (TDP). With numbers in the panel favouring Opposition, the issue is likely to generate political heat in the coming days.
leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, Congress MP Pramod Tiwari and JD-U President Sharad Yadav were among the members who had given notice against Mallya to the Chairman.