17 Feb 2003
Rajesh Ramachandran
The Times of India
NEW DELHI: Former Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh's insistence on probing the Enron scandal — in which Sharad Pawar, former state CM and now Nationalist Congress Party supremo, allegedly figured — might have cost him his job, Congress insiders say with much impunity.
Former Enron executive Linda Powers had told a US Congressional hearing in the 1990s that the Enron Corporation had spent $20 million "educating Indians".
Deshmukh had, on October 27, 2001, instituted a judicial commission headed by retired supreme court judge S.P. Kurdukar to probe power purchase agreements (PPA) between the Maharashtra State Electricity Board and Enron. Politically, the probe put pressure on Pawar — ironically head of Deshmukh's coalition partner in the state — who, as Congress CM, signed the PPA in 1993, as well as the BJP-Shiv Sena combine that renegotiated the deal and gave further concessions to Enron in 1996.
By December last year, the Kurdukar Commission had issued notices against Pawar. His counsel contested the commission's jurisdiction to look into the issue as, he argued, the courts had already disposed of the Enron contract issue.
"Vilasrao's long-term strategy was to use the Enron scam against both the NCP and the Shiv Sena-BJP combine. By the 2004 elections, the Kurdukar Commission's hearings and its report would have come in handy for him. But his adversaries forestalled the move by getting him removed. Now let us see how far the new government co-operates with the commission," said a Congress leader.
On his part, Deshmukh denied that the Enron inquiry cost him his job. He told The Times of India: "The (Congress) high command was very happy with my strong position on Enron. After all, I have been vindicated by whatever happened to Enron. But some people within my own party were unhappy. I am still wondering what went wrong with my government."
Documents released under the US Freedom of Information Act and published in The Washington Post on January 20, 2002, show that the US government and its national security council (NSC) were directly involved in lobbying with Prime Minister Vajpayee's principal secretary, Brajesh Mishra, and Congress president Sonia Gandhi in 2001, till the company collapsed.
In fact, the NSC constituted a "Dabhol working group" which sought the help of the World Bank, the US embassy in India and the Indian embassy in Washington to sell Enron "interests" to the Indian government for $2.3 billion and settle the issue. Former Enron chief Kenneth Lay termed the price tag as "exceptionally reasonable."
President George W. Bush was to talk to Prime Minister Vajpayee on November 8, 2001, on the issue — for which talking points were prepared by the Dabhol working group. But the Enron collapse began that very day, with the company revising its financial statements.
According to a June 28, 2001, email from the NSC, "The vice-president mentioned Enron in his meeting with Sonia Gandhi." Even the mighty US government could not save Enron, but it seems that certain Indian leaders could well save themselves from Deshmukh's Enron trap.
Rajesh Ramachandran
The Times of India
NEW DELHI: Former Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh's insistence on probing the Enron scandal — in which Sharad Pawar, former state CM and now Nationalist Congress Party supremo, allegedly figured — might have cost him his job, Congress insiders say with much impunity.
Former Enron executive Linda Powers had told a US Congressional hearing in the 1990s that the Enron Corporation had spent $20 million "educating Indians".
Deshmukh had, on October 27, 2001, instituted a judicial commission headed by retired supreme court judge S.P. Kurdukar to probe power purchase agreements (PPA) between the Maharashtra State Electricity Board and Enron. Politically, the probe put pressure on Pawar — ironically head of Deshmukh's coalition partner in the state — who, as Congress CM, signed the PPA in 1993, as well as the BJP-Shiv Sena combine that renegotiated the deal and gave further concessions to Enron in 1996.
By December last year, the Kurdukar Commission had issued notices against Pawar. His counsel contested the commission's jurisdiction to look into the issue as, he argued, the courts had already disposed of the Enron contract issue.
"Vilasrao's long-term strategy was to use the Enron scam against both the NCP and the Shiv Sena-BJP combine. By the 2004 elections, the Kurdukar Commission's hearings and its report would have come in handy for him. But his adversaries forestalled the move by getting him removed. Now let us see how far the new government co-operates with the commission," said a Congress leader.
On his part, Deshmukh denied that the Enron inquiry cost him his job. He told The Times of India: "The (Congress) high command was very happy with my strong position on Enron. After all, I have been vindicated by whatever happened to Enron. But some people within my own party were unhappy. I am still wondering what went wrong with my government."
Documents released under the US Freedom of Information Act and published in The Washington Post on January 20, 2002, show that the US government and its national security council (NSC) were directly involved in lobbying with Prime Minister Vajpayee's principal secretary, Brajesh Mishra, and Congress president Sonia Gandhi in 2001, till the company collapsed.
In fact, the NSC constituted a "Dabhol working group" which sought the help of the World Bank, the US embassy in India and the Indian embassy in Washington to sell Enron "interests" to the Indian government for $2.3 billion and settle the issue. Former Enron chief Kenneth Lay termed the price tag as "exceptionally reasonable."
President George W. Bush was to talk to Prime Minister Vajpayee on November 8, 2001, on the issue — for which talking points were prepared by the Dabhol working group. But the Enron collapse began that very day, with the company revising its financial statements.
According to a June 28, 2001, email from the NSC, "The vice-president mentioned Enron in his meeting with Sonia Gandhi." Even the mighty US government could not save Enron, but it seems that certain Indian leaders could well save themselves from Deshmukh's Enron trap.
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