New Delhi, Aug 31 (ANI): The Samajwadi Party along with the Left and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) will hold a protest outside Parliament today against the logjam in the House over coal block allocations.
Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Thursday met leaders of the CPI, CPM and TDP and sought an investigation into the coal allocation issue under the supervision of a Supreme Court judge.
"We want that parliament should run, and there should be a discussion. Coalgate scam should be investigated and the accused should be punished," Yadav told media here.
"Congress and BJP are working hand in glove. Both the parties are not willing to run parliament .We want that there should be a discussion and accused should be punished. The coal allotment should be cancelled because it was allocate in a wrong way. Tomorrow we are sitting on protest against this," said CPI-M leader Basudev Acharya.
"CAG is a constitutional body and this is like a watchdog. Its main job is to see that weather Government's money is being invested or not. What prime minister had commented on CAG is absolutely wrong . He is not authorized to comment like this," said CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta.
TDP leader Nama Nageshwar Rao said: "We have been saying about the coal scam since the very first day. All the ministers of BJP and Congress did the loot of crores of rupees. This Government is just doing what it wants."
The meeting came in the backdrop of Parliament failing to transact any business for almost two weeks now, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led opposition sticking to their demand for Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh's resignation over the issue.
The Prime Minister had earlier on Monday rejected the CAG's observations as 'misleading' and 'flawed', and blamed the opposition parties for thwarting the efforts of his government to bring a policy of competitive bidding.
Manmohan Singh, who spoke both inside Parliament as well as outside, took 'full responsibility' for the decisions taken by the Coal Ministry whose charge he directly held for some time and asserted that at 'any allegation of impropriety is without any basis and unsupported by facts'.
Dr. Singh, who is facing sharp criticism from the opposition over the CAG report on coal block allocations, also urged the BJP to debate the issue in Parliament and not disrupt proceedings.
The BJP has held the Prime Minister, who then held direct charge of the coal ministry, responsible for what has been estimated as a notional loss of Rs 1.86 lakh crores by the CAG in coal block allocations, and demanded his resignation.
The CAG report on coal block allocations states that nearly 150 coalfields were allotted to private and state-run firms without transparency and objectivity between 2005 and 2009. (ANI)
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