New Delhi, Aug 22 (ANI): Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal on Wednesday defended Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh over the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) report on coal block allocations, and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of not allowing a debate to take place in the Parliament on the issue.
Jaiswal alleged that every single individual has the right to use Parliament for politics, but added that it should not to be used only for political agenda.
“Everyone has the right to use Parliament for politics, but it should not be used only to further political agendas. The opposition knows that if a debate takes place, it will be exposed,” he said.
Jaiswal said that the main objective of the Prime Minister at the time was to take steps to help the Indian economy to grow, and not just meet the demand for coal.
“His decisions led to a high growth rate at a time when there was a huge recession in the U.S.,” he added. Jaiswal further said the various state governments were consulted and their approval was taken for allocation of all coal blocks. “If the bidding process had been initiated, there would have been greater transparency and our government tried to introduce this. But Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, all the state governments, aggressively opposed this because they said higher coal costs would hit industrial development in their states,” he added. Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley earlier in the day demanded the Prime Minister’s resignation over the CAG report on coal block allocations. He said the ongoing standoff that has paralyzed the parliamentary proceedings can be brought to an end if Dr. Manmohan Singh takes moral responsibility and acts accordingly.
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/coalgate-jaiswal-defends-pm/
