Former Coal Secretary P C Parakh, an accused in a CBI case in coal scam, today claimed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had asked him to continue in office after he resigned following "blackmail" and pressure from Members of Parliament on coal block allocations.
He said he had met the Prime Minister for a farewell meeting after he resigned from his job in the later part of 2005.
"But he asked me to stay on...He said political situation being what it is, it is difficult to deal with these kind of issues," Parakh said.
Asked whether it showed the Prime Minister's personal "frustration" at the situation, Parakh told Times Now "yes, in a way."
He said he had written a letter to the then Cabinet Secretary and the CVC about "blackmail and pressure by MPs" and is not aware whether any action was taken on his complaint.
Parakh alleged MPs used blackmail and pressure tactics to either get their work done or to extract bribe from officials.
Controversy erupted over the allocation of a coal block to Kumar Mangalam Birla's Hindalco as CBI named the businessman and Parakh last week in the FIR relating to the deal.
