The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today attacked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over his criticism of the main Opposition party, saying it was its right to seek his political, constitutional and moral accountability.
“The right to ask questions and seek political, constitutional and moral accountability of the prime minister is indeed the constitutional and parliamentary obligation of the Opposition. And Mr Prime Minister, this is not 'tu tu main main,” BJP chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
In his press interaction while returning from the Non-Alligned Movement (NAM) summit, in Tehran, Singh had said he did not want to get into a slanging match “tu tu main main” with the Opposition, as he had to keep the dignity of his office. He added due to this he preferred to maintain silence.
The BJP, which has been stalling Parliament demanding Singh's resignation in the coal block allocation issue, reacted sharply to these comments. “If the people have given you the mandate to govern they have also made the Opposition the custodian of their interest and we shall continue to safeguard that whether you call it ‘tu-tu main main’ or seek solace in your silence by reciting an Urdu couplet,” Prasad said.
PMO unhappy over inaction by coal ministry
Amid the storm over coal block allocation, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has expressed displeasure over inaction by the coal ministry in cancelling blocks where mining has not taken place and asked it to expedite the matter by September 6. The PMO communication to the coal ministry came ahead of the inter-ministerial Group Meeting (IMG) on Monday to take a decision on the fate of 58 coal blocks including 25 blocks allocated to private companies like Tata Power, Reliance Power and ArcelorMittal.
Parliament logjam to continue
Sticking to its demand for resignation of Singh, BJP today vowed to continue its "parliamentary tactic" of stalling proceedings and challenged the Congress to seek a fresh mandate from people. BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP M Venkaiah Naidu said his party was not demanding the resignation of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government merely on the alleged "coalgate" scam but also on a "series of scams and issues," including the 2G spectrum allocation.
Cancel coal blocks allocation
The BJP insisted on its demand for cancellation of allotment of 142 coal blocks and vowed to take what it described as the "biggest scandal perpetrated on the nation" to every part of the country to inform people about it. Rejecting the Congress charge that BJP was stalling debate on 'Coalgate' scam, party spokesman Rajeev Pratap Rudy alleged "the process of parliamentary system was being subverted by the Congress on the basis of its numerical strength."
Farooq against PMs’ resignation
Union Minister Farooq Abdullah meanwhile said there was no need for Prime Minister Singh to resign just on BJP's demand, as he was not been appointed to the post by the opposition party. Abdullah was responding to a query regarding BJP's demand of PM's resignation over the CAG report on allocation of coal blocks. “Who are they to demand his (Singh's) resignation? Have they put him there?" Abdullah said, noting that the demand for PM's resignation was absurd as the opposition parties had not given the mandate to him.
