May 7, 2005

Press Statement

  The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:

 Probe Shourie’s Role In Centaur Deal

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) notes the devastating comments made in the CAG report on the Centaur Hotel  deal and the role of Shri Arun Shourie, the then Minister for Disinvestment in this deal. The Poilt Bureau demands that the deal with the private parties should be cancelled by the UPA government.

The CAG report clearly points out that undervaluation had been done by the NDA government to serve private interests “without the benefit of competition” for any other party. The CAG report further pointed out how Shri Arun Shourie took special interest in pushing forward the deal throwing overboard all the norms.

The sale of the two Centaur hotels in Mumbai at the Airport and Juhu has resulted in a net loss of crores of rupees to the public exchequer through the dubious deals which only justifies the demand for cancellation of these deals.

The Polit Bureau further demands a thorough probe by the CBI about the personal role of Shri Arun Shourie in these scandalous deals so that these underhand transactions during the NDA government’s tenure are brought before the people in a clear cut manner.