Coal-gate: BJP says PM must GO; Sonia says NO WAY!

Intensifying its attack on the government over the coal block allocation scam, Bharatiya Janata Party demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and sacking of Law Minister Ashwani Kumar.

The BJP Parliamentary Party which met in New Delhi under the chairmanship of L K Advani passed a resolution in this regard and charged the government with suppressing the truth from coming out in the coal scam.

However, Congress President Sonia Gandhi hit back the Opposition and ruled out any possibility of Dr Singh stepping down.

Responding to media queries about BJP's demand, Sonia merely said: "Let them ask"

Gandhi had on Monday given an indication of the aggression in Congress' response to the Opposition's charges.

"Why should we allow our opponents to get away with propagating negative impressions? You should ask them: "what have you or your party done to change things in our country ?" I have no doubt that they have no credible answer," Gandhi had said.

The opposition party had stalled Parliament over the issue and demanded that the law minister make a statement on his alleged role in vetting the CBI affidavit for the Supreme Court on the coal scam investigation.

"The BJP Parliamentary Party has resolved that in the light of the series of scams and the present way in which the government has sought to suppress the truth from coming out, Dr Manmohan Singh must resign and the Law Minister Ashwani Kumar must be sacked," BJP Deputy Leader in Rajya Sabha Ravi Shankar Prasad told media persons after the meeting.

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He said the party has formally demanded that Dr Singh must resign and the law minister be sacked.

Prasad said the party is of the opinion that the UPA government under Dr Singh has "destroyed" and "subverted" every institution in the country.

"The UPA government first indulges in corruption and then subverts institutions to suppress the truth. It stands exposed before the country. The UPA government has forfeited its right to govern. BJP demands that the Prime Minister and the law minister resign immediately," the BJP leader said.

Stepping up its attack, he said the government only wants a discussion on corruption and is not ready for any honest audit on it. He attacked the law minister, saying, "Since when does CBI need an English tutor like the law minister to correct the English of its affidavit."

Prasad alleged, "The Prime Minister's Office and the law minister have blatently interfered in the functioning of the CBI while investigating the coal block allocation scam."

The BJP Parliamentary Party also discussed the JPC draft report on 2G and former Telecom Minister A Raja's contention that whatever actions he took were in the knowledge of the Prime Minister and decisions taken after consulting him.

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Asked if it would raise the issue again in Parliament, Prasad said, "We will raise the matter. This government is running away. It does not want an honest discussion. This government does not allow us to question it on the irregularities committed by it. We will not support the government."

He alleged that there is a conscious attempt to suppress the unravelling of the truth. "And this suppression is sought to be done at the highest level," he said.

Prasad said despite an assurance from the Additional Solicitor General in March that contents of the CBI affidavit had not been shared with any political authority, the government has "misled" the Supreme Court and now "a very fake alibi is being given that the law minister was correcting the grammar of the affidavit. This is preposterous, laughable."

"The government is trying to suppress the truth from coming out shamelessly even from the Supreme Court and then trying to give an alibi which is laughable. This is plainly not acceptable," the BJP leader said.