The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has agreed to allow the financial business to be taken up in the Parliament on Tuesday, today said that it would continue with its agitation and mount pressure on the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre on issues concerning the coal scam and the 2G spectrum scam.
“It is not a drama. It is a national call taken by the BJP that we will continue our agitation. We are not suspending our agitation. We will continue with our agitation. We will keep our pressure, but only for tomorrow”s financial business,” said BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar.
“On Saturday and Sunday, 4th and 5th of May, all the state capitals will witness massive demonstrations, protests marches and ”dharnas” where all India leaders will also go and address the rallies. And we will give the memorandum to respective Governors,” he added.
Javadekar also hit back at Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh over his remark that the opposition parties are making a mockery of the Indian system by not allowing the Parliament to function.
“The Prime Minister may be saying that the world is laughing at us because Parliament is not running. The world is laughing at us because nobody has seen such a corrupt government and nobody has seen such shamelessness,” he said.
The government today achieved a breakthrough in the logjam in Parliament with the opposition agreeing to allow financial business to be taken up tomorrow.
The deadlock ended after a meeting of floor leaders of various parties convened by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.
“All financial business will be taken up in Parliament tomorrow,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath told reporters after the meeting.
“There is no talk of adjourning Parliament sine die (before May 10),” he added, while dismissing suggestions that Parliament would be adjourned sine die after passage of financial business.
Kamal Nath also termed as ”unfortunate” the repeated adjournment of Parliament.
“Political parties and all of us have to remember that Parliament is not of the Government, Parliament is not of the Congress party, Parliament is of all MPs and of all political parties,” he said.
The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, had earlier on Saturday appealed to the opposition parties to allow the Parliament function and discuss all the issues through proper dialogue there.
“By not allowing Parliament to function, we are making mockery of our system of democracy. The whole world is laughing at us. Whatever the issues, these can be debated, discussed and decisions arrived at through proper dialogue at Parliament,” Dr. Singh told mediapersons on the sidelines of the defence investiture ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here during the week-end.
The BJP is demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister and Union Law Minister Ashwani Kumar on the issue of CBI”s report to the Supreme Court on coal block scam.
The Law Minister, who is under opposition attack over the CBI affidavit on the coal scam issue, has said that he had done ”no wrong”.
The CBI filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court on its probe into the coal block allocations last week.
In his affidavit, the CBI Director assured the apex court that the agency will not share further status reports in this case with any member of the political executive.
He also said that the latest status report being filed on Friday has not been shared with any political executive in any manner whatsoever.
“I confirm that the present status report being filed in this court has not been shared with any political executive in any manner whatsoever,” he said.
The alleged coal scam washed out the Monsoon Session of Parliament after the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said the under priced sales of coalfields might have cost the exchequer a loss of Rs. 1.86 lakh crore.
15 Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) members of opposition parties have expressed ”no confidence” in panel chairperson P.C. Chacko and have sought his removal by the Speaker on the 2G draft report, which gives a clean chit to the Prime Minister and the Home Minister.
Former Telecom Minister A. Raja had earlier last week lashed out at the JPC for not allowing him to depose before it, saying this is not the way the panel examining the 2G spectrum allocation is expected to function.
Raja, who has been accused of indulging in a scam worth Rs. 1.76 lakh crore when in office, has so far reiterated that he did everything in consultation with the Prime Minister, and said that he will prove his innocence in the 2G spectrum scam case.
Raja has repeatedly said that the Prime Minister and Finance Minister were in the loop over policy decisions related to 2G spectrum allocation.
Raja was forced to resign from the Union Cabinet after the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) faulted him for undervaluing spectrum to favour companies who were largely ineligible for 2G spectrum, and added that the government had probably lost Rs. 1.76 lakh crore in estimated revenue.
————-ANI