BJP's balloon

Following the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report on coal alleging a loss of Rs 1,86,000 crore to the exchequer owing to the way private firms were allocated blocks, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sought the prime minister’s resignation, saying it would not accept anything less. Sensing a political crisis, parties saw the possibility of mid-term polls and soon tempered the protest. When Finance Minister P Chidambaram was asked to comment on the BJP’s demand, he said, “A section of the BJP test-floated this balloon, but the rest of the BJP punctured it.”