BJP wants PM to quit
18 Aug 2012 5:44 AM IST
The BJP demanded Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's resignation on Friday over the alleged irregularities pointed out in the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report in the allocation of coal blocks between 2006 and 2009 when he held the coal portfolio.
Calling it one of the biggest scams of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, ruled out the need for a joint parliamentary committee probe on the CAG report. 'We want the prime minister to resign, but there is no need of a JPC,' the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said.
Her party colleague Arun Jaitley said that the prime minister was 'directly, politically and morally' responsible for the windfall gain to private parties, as the UPA government could not decide to allow competitive bidding for the coal blocks from 2004 to 2012. 'The eight-year delay from July 2004 to February 2012 in implementing a decision to go for competitive bidding instead of discretionary method of allocating coal blocks resulted in a loss to the exchequer and windfall gain to the private players,' said Jaitley. 'As the prime minister headed the coal ministry between July 2004 and May 2009, he is vicariously responsible … he should introspect over the CAG's report and resign,' he added.
Making a comparison with the 2G case, in which a joint parliamentary committee has been set up, Jaitley said that while there was a loss to exchequer in the 2G spectrum case, in the issue of coal blocks the private parties gained at the expense of the government.
The BJP said that the CAG report on coal blocks was another episode in the series of corruption scandals in the UPA government. The BJP also condemned the Congress for criticising the CAG. 'The Congress' attempt to rubbish the 2G report was belied and the same will happen with this report,' said Jaitley.
Calling it one of the biggest scams of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, ruled out the need for a joint parliamentary committee probe on the CAG report. 'We want the prime minister to resign, but there is no need of a JPC,' the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said.
Her party colleague Arun Jaitley said that the prime minister was 'directly, politically and morally' responsible for the windfall gain to private parties, as the UPA government could not decide to allow competitive bidding for the coal blocks from 2004 to 2012. 'The eight-year delay from July 2004 to February 2012 in implementing a decision to go for competitive bidding instead of discretionary method of allocating coal blocks resulted in a loss to the exchequer and windfall gain to the private players,' said Jaitley. 'As the prime minister headed the coal ministry between July 2004 and May 2009, he is vicariously responsible … he should introspect over the CAG's report and resign,' he added.
Making a comparison with the 2G case, in which a joint parliamentary committee has been set up, Jaitley said that while there was a loss to exchequer in the 2G spectrum case, in the issue of coal blocks the private parties gained at the expense of the government.
The BJP said that the CAG report on coal blocks was another episode in the series of corruption scandals in the UPA government. The BJP also condemned the Congress for criticising the CAG. 'The Congress' attempt to rubbish the 2G report was belied and the same will happen with this report,' said Jaitley.
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