The Left leaders said they would take up the issue "at the highest level" after getting full information about the alleged discrimination.
The issue was discussed today by CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat, CPI General Secretary AB Bardhan, CPI National Secretary D Raja and Forward Bloc leader Debabrata Biswas.
"We want to know how the UPA regime has come to regard China a security threat. The same Congress had denounced the then defence minister George Fernandes for calling China the potential enemy number one. The government of the day must come clear on this," a senior leader present at the meeting said.
If the parties got the 'evidence' in time, they might raise the issue at the meeting of the coordination committee in September-end, said a Left source.
Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan had raised the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week. This was after the Centre refused security clearance to two Chinese firms that had qualified for a contract for a trans-shipment terminal at Vizhinjam port in Kerala. The chief minister has urged Singh to sort out the matter.
In May, CPI(M) MP Tapan Sen had sought a clarification from the prime minister on the rejection of a Chinese company's bid for installing aerobridges. In this case, the Airport Authority of India had floated a global tender for 42
units of passenger boarding bridges.
According to Sen, the lowest offer of Rs 79.10 crore (Rs 791 million) from a Chinese company, Shenzhen Cimac-Tianda Airport Support Ltd, was rejected, leaving in the field only one bidder (a Spanish company), which had quoted Rs 189 crore (Rs 1.89 billion).
Sen quoted a Delhi high court order on this issue. According to Sen, after going through the files submitted by the government, the court had observed, "If it is really security perception, then this court will be reluctant to interfere in the matter, but under the garb of security reasons, it is not open for the respondent to create a monopoly."
Since the high court refused to interfere, the Chinese company reportedly approached the Supreme Court. Incidentally, the company has been supplying aerobridges to AAI since 1997. Its aerobridges are installed at Kochi, Hyderabad and Bangalore airports.
According to Sen's letter, the affidavit submitted on behalf of the AAI stated that after 9/11, threat perception has changed globally and a fresh categorisation of sensitive, hyper-sensitive airports and those in border areas has been done by the Bureau of Civil Aviation.
The AAI was within its right to reject any tender for security reasons, it added.
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