The questioning of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by the CBI in connection with the case relating to the allocation of the Talabira II coal block in Sundargarh district to the Aditya Birla group-owned Hindalco on Tuesday has prompted the BJP to demanded quizzing of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik by the CBI in the same case.
“Since Naveen Patnaik had recommended allocation of the Talabira II coal block to Hindalco, he should also be interrogated by the CBI. “Naveen cannot get away by saying he had recommended the coal block allocation in the interest of the State. He needs to be questioned,” BJP State president KV Singh Deo told reporters on Wednesday.
Senior BJP leader Suresh Pujari said, “The CBI had already questioned Kumarmangalam Birla in this case. Now, it has questioned former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Given this, the questioning of Naveen Patnaik becomes inevitable. The investigation cannot be complete without questioning of the CM,” said.
Pooh-poohing the BJP demand, BJD spokesperson Pratap Keshari Deb said, “If one were to go by the BJP’s logic, all Chief Ministers have to be interrogated by the CBI for making recommendations.” He said all Chief Ministers, particularly of minerals-bearing States, make recommendations for allocation of natural resources, including coal, keeping the interests of their States. There was nothing wrong with Naveen Patnaik’s recommendation.
“If there was any irregularity or illegality, it is the responsibility of the Steering Committee, the Union Coal Ministry and, above all, the Prime Minister, to take a call on that,” he said, emphasising that the CBI questioned the former PM not on its own but on the directions of the special court.
On its part, the Congress made light of the questioning of Manmohan Singh, saying he was not “interrogated” as an accused but “questioned” as someone who may have some information vital to the probe.“Singh had expressed his willingness to be questioned in the case,” leader of the Opposition Narasingha Mishra (Congress) said.