Sibal accuses BJP of being 'paralytic'

Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of trying to subvert India's growth story, Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday said the party was suffering from 'paralysis' as it was not allowing Parliament to function, returning the barb directed at the government by the opposition.

"The criticism against the United Progressive Alliance is that we do not take any decisions and there has been a policy paralysis. We have taken decisions, but the paralysis lies somewhere else," Sibal told an interaction organised by Indian Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata.

"The paralysis lies in not taking the decisions forward, but sitting and stalling Parliament," Sibal said in reference to the BJP demanding resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and cancellation of coal blocks for which the monsoon session was completely washed out.

"The story of the opposition is to subvert the growth story of India," the minister said. Slamming the BJP for not allowing any discussion in Parliament on the coal block allocation issue, he said, "We have got the majority and the mandate to govern. If you say

(read Opposition) we are in the minority and will not allow the Parliament to function, then this is an anti-thesis to democracy."

"There is no policy paralysis in decision making. Paralysis is in the mindset of those who does not have a vision of India," he said.

Referring to alleged 'irregularities' in coal block allocation by the UPA government which raised a storm in Parliament, Sibal said that it was difficult to cancel the licenses of coal blocks because substantial time was required to develop a mine.