BJP to launch nationwide protest over coal scam from Sept 8

Hyderabad, Aug 31: BJP said it would continue to stall the Parliament till the Prime Minister

resigned over the alleged coal allocation scam and would organise a nation-wide protest from Sept 8.

"Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is directly responsible for the scam and he cannot escape his responsibility. If he is stating he is not ready to resign, then BJP and NDA will not stop with anything less than his resignation. We will continue to stall the Parliament and take the fight to the streets," BJP National General Secretary Ananth Kumar said here.

After the Parliament's session ends on Sept 7, BJP and NDA will launch nation-wide protest from Sept 8 over the issue, Kumar added. "Nation's wealth has been gobbled up by Congress. They have made money and taken kickbacks," Kumar said, alleging that "the nexus" reached as far as the PMO.

Demanding cancellation of allotment of 142 coal blocks, the BJP leader sought investigation by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court. Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister had rejected the demand of resignation and said he hoped that BJP would "let the government function".

Asked why BJP was not ready for debate in the Parliament, Kumar said, "They (Congress) don't want to own the responsibility. There is nothing to talk. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has given a report after a lot of deliberation, pointing out loss of Rs 1.86 lakh crore. Prima facie the Prime Minister is in the dock, and with him at the helm of affairs...there cannot be independent investigation."

"It's an indictment (of PM) by the CAG, and he should resign and face a trial. "About two years ago it was coalition scam (by UPA allies) and now it is a Congress scam. If the same PM can take resignations of Raja and Maran (over 2G spectrum scam) and that of Suresh Kalmadi over CWG scam, we don't understand what has changed now. It is the double standard of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister," Kumar said.

PTI