BJP says Chidambaram's clarification violates rules

New Delhi, May 11 (IANS) Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Friday protested Home Minister P. Chidambaram reading out a clarification from his son on his business interests in telecom operator Aircel in the Lok Sabha Thursday, saying it was against rules.

As the house met for the day, BJP benches were on their feet raising the issue, with Yashwant Sinha, who had raised the matter Thursday, leading the charge.

Chidambaram was not in the house when the BJP benches raised the matter.

Though Speaker Meira Kumar called for taking up the scheduled question hour, the BJP benches did not relent.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, however, refused to respond to the issue, saying the matter did not relate to his ministry.

Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj, supporting Sinha, said the statement of Chidambaram Thursday, when he read out a clarification issued by his son, Karti Chidambaram, was against rules.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal told the house that Chidambaram had made the statement with permission from the speaker.

Bansal said Chidambaram had to make the statement as Sinha made allegations against individuals without prior notice to the speaker. Sinha had alleged that Chidambaram had misused his office as the then finance minister to enable his son to acquire interests in Aircel.

However, the comments from Bansal did not satisfy the BJP benches, with Sinha rejecting it.