New Delhi: Countering Congress charge that cancellation of allotment of petrol pumps, LPG and kerosene dealership by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was an admission of guilt, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on August 5 asserted it was done to uphold "probity in public life".

"Never before in the history of India has any Prime Minister cancelled on such a large-scale allotment of gas and LPG agencies and petrol pumps which has been done keeping in mind the need for maintaining probity in public life," party spokesman V K Malhotra told reporters.

Vajpayee ordered cancellation of all allotments of petrol pumps, cooking gas and kerosene agencies made after January 2000 in the wake of a newspaper expose that BJP functionaries and their relatives cornered most of them.

Defending Petroleum Minister Ram Naik, he said, "Naik has not given even one petrol pump from his discretionary quota."

There had been no irregularity in the allotment of the agencies and pumps and the cancellation was done to "maintain moral sanctity" and remove the perception that many of the allottees were from BJP, he said.

So far a list of 200 of the 3,800 allottees has been made available, he said.

On the alleged role of the minister's daughter in the allotments, the spokesman said, "There is no question of his daughter's involvement and the allegation is completely baseless."

PTI