BJP seeks probe in Coalgate scam

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday said a letter to Team Anna on the coal mining issue is not the need of the hour and the government should order a full-fledged probe into the scam to bring out the truth.

"We feel that just a letter from the PMO to Team Anna on Coalgate is not enough. A thorough probe is required. Even when the 2G spectrum scam took place, the PMO and Cabinet ministers said there was zero loss," BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain told reporters.

He maintained that it was the BJP which exposed this scam when the party's Members of Parliament Hansraj Ahir and Prakash Javadekar raised this issue and went to the Central Vigilance Commission.

"Only a preliminary enquiry has been ordered into the Coalgate scam. A simple letter from the PMO will not do. Why is the government afraid of an investigation? It should announce a full-fledged probe into the matter," Hussain said.

Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office V Narayanasamy had written to Team Anna on the coal mining issue, insisting that the charges raked up have come from the media and are not based on facts.

Narayanasamy has said in his letter that the impression Anna Hazare has about the Central Bureau of Investigation and its functioning is wrong. He also rejected Team Anna's demand for a Special Investigation Team probe into allegations of corruption levelled by them.

The PMO rejected the demand for setting up special fast-track courts for trying MPs accused of corruption.

"The country wants to know why the government is shying away from a probe," Hussain said.