Chasing the deal

Crony capitalism has become such a hot-button issue in politics that Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh are desperately trying to discover what transpired at a meeting between London-based Vedanta Resources Chairman Anil Agrawal and Chief Minister Raman Singh and senior bureaucrats at Raipur in the last week of June. Agrawal had come to the state capital for a day to discuss the prospect of approval for a 1,200-Mw power plant that his aluminium company Bharat Aluminum Company (Balco) had built at its factory in Korba district. The Congress, which is in opposition in the state and has been opposing Balco's power plant, is suspicious. Congress working president Charandas Mahant even went on record to demand that the minutes of the meeting be made public. But behind the scenes, Congress leaders are informally enquiring from different quarters whether any "deal" had been reached in return for government approval.