House logjam over coal scam
24 April 2013 2:48 AM GMT
The logjam continued for the second day in Parliament as the principal opposition cornered the government on coal gate and 2G spectrum scam. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday created a massive uproar in both the houses by seeking resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and dismissal of law minister Ashwani Kumar on both the issues.
The BJP was on the offensive soon after both Houses met for the day as its members trooped into the well raising slogans like ‘Pradhan Mantri isteefa do (Prime Minister resign)’ and ‘kanoon mantri ko barkhast karo (sack the law minister)’. They were joined by other opposition members. The BJP insisted on its demand that the law minister be dismissed for his alleged interference in preparation of the CBI report to Supreme Court on the coal scam.
The Congress party however, made it amply clear that it would not bow down to the Opposition’s demand for the resignation of Prime Minister. ‘Let them ask’ was the terse reply of the Congress president Sonia Gandhi, when asked about the BJP’s clamouring call for the PM’s removal from office. Later, while addressing party workers, she said, ‘Why should we allow our opponents to get away with propagating negative impressions?’
Expressing exasperation at Gandhi’s response, leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley commented, ‘Gandhi may see Singh’s role in the coal allocation case as a virtue, but BJP feels this is nothing less than a scam.’
The BJP was on the offensive soon after both Houses met for the day as its members trooped into the well raising slogans like ‘Pradhan Mantri isteefa do (Prime Minister resign)’ and ‘kanoon mantri ko barkhast karo (sack the law minister)’. They were joined by other opposition members. The BJP insisted on its demand that the law minister be dismissed for his alleged interference in preparation of the CBI report to Supreme Court on the coal scam.
The Congress party however, made it amply clear that it would not bow down to the Opposition’s demand for the resignation of Prime Minister. ‘Let them ask’ was the terse reply of the Congress president Sonia Gandhi, when asked about the BJP’s clamouring call for the PM’s removal from office. Later, while addressing party workers, she said, ‘Why should we allow our opponents to get away with propagating negative impressions?’
Expressing exasperation at Gandhi’s response, leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley commented, ‘Gandhi may see Singh’s role in the coal allocation case as a virtue, but BJP feels this is nothing less than a scam.’
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