People will not forget coal issue in 2014, say parties

New Delhi, Sep 16 (IANS) Reacting to Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde's remark that "public memory is short" and "the coal mines allocations will be forgotten like Bofors", the Left and the BJP Sunday said people will not forget the issue till the 2014 general elections.

Shinde had made the remark in Pune Saturday.

"People will not forget the coal blocks issue in the 2014 general elections," Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Praksh Karat told reporters in Kolkata.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had not allowed parliament's monsoon session to run over the coal blocks allocation issue.

"The Congress' hand will remain blackened till 2014 due to the coal issue. They should worry about their government," BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said.

Congress leader Anil Shastri admitted that "public memory is short but if people believe the government has done something wrong, they forget the issue only after teaching a lesson to the government".