Coalgate: 'Congress, BJP together looted Rs 1.86 lakh crore'

New Delhi, Aug 23: The Bharatiya Janta Party (

) stormed the Parliament for the third consecutive day on Thursday, Aug 23 demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over

. When both

and BJP seem to have engaged in a tough fight over the issue, many started suspecting - Is the whole protest a mere eyewash? Do they have come to some consensus understanding as both party members' names could be maligned if they come for an open debate in Parliament?

Fuelling speculations, Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday claimed that both party indeed had looted the money over coal scam in India. Urging people to join him in protest against the Prime Minister and BJP president Nitin Gadkari, Kejriwal tweeted, "Congress and BJP have got together to loot Rs 1.86 lakh crore in coal scam. (There will be) Gherao of Prime Minister's and Nitin Gadkari's residences. Let us assemble at Jantar Mantar on Aug 26 (at) 10 AM."

Earlier, the activists threatened to "expose" the UPA government by filing a PIL in the court if the government does not appoint a special team to investigate the coal allocation.

"We have raised it on May 25. All our allegations have come true now. All parties are involved in it since screening committees have representatives of states also. We demand cancellation of allotments of coal blocks. Lodge FIR, constitute an SIT, failing which we will file PIL in court and carry out referendum on the issue to expose the government."

Thee statement surfaced following the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report which claimed that coal blocks allocation between 2005 and 2009 led to a loss of Rs 1.86 lakh crore to national exchequer.

The CAG report, which was tabled in the Parliament on Aug 17, did not indict the Prime Minister Office (PMO) but scrutinised the period between 2005 to 2009 when Manmohan Singh was the coal minister.

The report named 25 companies including Essar Power, Hindalco, Tata Steel, Tata Power and Jindal Steel and Power which have got the blocks in various states. According to the report, nearly 44 billion tonnes of coal were given away at throwaway prices to private companies and 194 coal blocks were allegedly allotted to companies on mere recommendations.

Citing the report, BJP vowed to disrupt the Parliament monsoon session till Manmohan Singh put down his papers. On Thursday, the BJP MPs also threatened to resign from the Parliament.

OneIndia News