CBI Director Ranjit Sinha’s admission that the status report on the coal allocation scam was shared with the law Minister, officials of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Coal Ministry, has created a political furore and revived the demand for resignation of law Minister Ashwani Kumar and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
As expected, the Government rejected the demand for Ashwani Kumar’s removal, but much could change when the Supreme Court hears the case on April 30.
Rajya Sabha’s leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley said the CBI affidavit before the SC has hidden more than it reveals.
“All major concerns remain unanswered. What were the changes made by the Government in the CBI documentIJ Whether there were exchanges between the investigating agency and the PMOIJ The entire communication should come out. We want to know, to what extent the PMO was involved in tweaking the CBI affidavit,” Jaitley told reporters.
BJP general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy said: “The BJP is firm on its demand for the resignation of the PM. The CBI affidavit proves that the Prime Minister wanted to save himself from the CBI inquiry using the law Ministry.”
Former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh said that the Government’s interference with the CBI affidavit, as admitted by its Director, was a violation of the SC directive.
The CPI(M) demanded that the Prime Minister make a statement on the coal scam issue in the House. CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said, “There should be a debate on the issue in both Houses.”
CPI(M) MP Basudeb Acharia, however, demanded that law Minister Ashwani Kumar be removed from the Cabinet.
Acting against Ashwani Kumar could directly bring Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the line of Opposition fire as the CBI also shared the report with the PMO officials on their directives.
On his part, Kumar also remained defiant claiming that he has done no wrong and will not resign and the “truth shall prevail.” He met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the PM and urged them to wait till the SC takes a final view on the issue.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said that the Opposition has made unacceptable demands and there was no question of Kumar’s resignation.
Defending the presence of officials of the PMO and the Coal Ministry along with the law Minister at the meeting with the CBI, he said that the contents of the report were to be provided by the Coal Ministry and the Prime Minister had held the coal portfolio for some time.
“The legal aspect is looked into by the law Minister,” he said.
With its strength depleted after the exit of the DMK and Trinamool Congress, both of which have joined the Opposition in attacking the Government both on coalgate and JPC report on 2G spectrum issue-the Government this time took the remaining allies NCP, RlD and National Conference on board in finalizing its strategy about breaking the Parliamentary logjam.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi and PM held a meeting which was attended by NCP President Sharad Pawar, RlD’s Ajit Singh, NC’s Farooq Abdullah and IUMl’s E Ahmad along with Defence Minister AK Antony, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Political Secretary of Congress President Ahmad Patel.
The meeting discussed how the Parliament can function from next week through better coordination, Nath said.
The Congress Core Group also met in the evening to devise its future strategy both on the JPC issue and the Coalgate issue.
With, the Government’s hopes of passing the land Acquisition and Food Security Bill already dashed, it reached out to the Opposition for passage of the Finance Bill at the earliest.
Nath also held talks with veteran BJP leader lK Advani and others and is likely to consult Sushma Swaraj on Monday in this regard.