BJP holds PM, Sonia responsible for coal scam

New Delhi, Mar 22 (ANI): Charging the Centre of being corrupt from head to toe, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday said both Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi should be held responsible for the coal scam.

"In this scam, both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the chairperson of the UPA, Sonia Gandhi, are responsible. This government is a master of scams and they are corrupt from head to toe. This government has no shame and is committing scam after scam. It then tries to cover them up under the garb of coalition compulsion. It is actually corruption compulsion for them," said BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut also held the Prime Minister responsible and demanded his resignation in connection with the scam.

"The Prime Minister is directly involved in this scam. When this scam was taking place, the coal ministry was under the government and so he is responsible. Today we have given a notice to suspend the Question Hour session in the house," said Raut.

"If the government does not agree, then we won't allow the house to function for the whole day. The Prime Minister has to resign," he added.

Meanwhile, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury called for an inquiry to be launched to look into the authenticity of the CAG report.

"The government never had any justification for any scam and neither does it have it today. The CAG's estimates should be verified by a committee to make sure they are correct," said Yechury.

"There should be a serious inquiry into it. This is because this scam, it seems, could be bigger than the telecom scam," he added.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal also slammed the government, saying the country's economy was suffering on the back of corruption.

"They have crossed all limits. This Congress government has become a scam-ridden government. The telecom scam was for 1.76 lakh crore and this is 10.7 lakh crore. This is unbelievable. Unemployment, poverty, inflation are on the rise because of so many scams," said Badal.

Proceedings in both Houses of Parliament were adjourned for some time on Thursday following opposition pressure over a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on coal block allocation.

The CAG report titled 'Performance Audit of Coal Block Allocations' has reportedly alleged the government of extending "undue benefits" of nearly Rs. 10.67 lakh crore to commercial entities while allotting 155 coal acreages without auction during the period of 2004-09.

The surfacing of the scam, said to be bigger than the 2G scam, has once again given the opposition an opportunity to corner the government in the ongoing parliament session.

It is reported that the over 100 private companies and public sector units from the power, steel and cement industries have benefited from this allocation. (ANI)