BJP wants PM to go, to disrupt parliament

New Delhi  :  After parliament was adjourned Tuesday over an alleged coal scam, the BJP vowed not to let the house function until Prime Minister Manmohan Singh resigned.

A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader told IANS that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had decided to keep demanding Manmohan Singh’s exit.

“The house is not likely to function for the whole week, possibly even the whole session, if our concerns are not addressed. We are firm on the demand for the prime minister’s resignation,” a BJP leader told IANS.

Asked if the opposition would compromise if the government takes up a debate on the CAG report, the BJP leader said: “Debate is not our demand. We are clear; we want the prime minister to resign.”

India’s official auditor, the comptroller and auditor general (CAG), last week revealed that the lack of transparency in allocation of coal blocks to private players resulted in a loss of Rs.1.85 lakh crore ($37 billion) to the exchequer as on March 11 last year.

The audit report does not directly indict the prime minister or his office. But during the time these mining blocks were allotted, the coal portfolio was held by Manmohan Singh (between July 2004 and May 2009).

An NDA meeting was attended by BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, Anant Geete of Shiv Sena, Ratan Singh Ajnala of Akali Dal and NDA convenor and Janata Dal-United chief Sharad Yadav.