New Delhi: BJP on Tuesday said the "public spat" between the Attorney General and the Additional Solicitor General reinforces its view that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should own up "responsibility" in the coal scam and step down. "The public spat between the Attorney General and the Additional Solicitor General on how, who pressurised whom on the CBI report on coalgate is not only saddening but also very, very regretable," BJP Deputy Leader in Rajya Sabha Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters here.
The BJP Parliamentary Party on Tuesday discussed the issue of the letter shot off by Additional Solicitor General Haren Raval to Attorney General GE Vahanvati in which he alleged that he has been made a "scapegoat" in the matter. Prasad maintained that till now there were reports that Law Minister Ashwani Kumar and officials in the Prime Minister's Office and the Coal Ministry were involved in the vetting of the CBI report on the coal issue but now even top law officers of the government have been "colluding in the compromise of constitutional institutions".
"This is a serious matter. This all the more reinforces our demand that the Prime Minister should own up the responsibility and resign," he said, adding that the Law Minister too should step down. The BJP leader alleged that these law officials did not tell the truth to the highest court about the CBI report. The party also discussed the Chinese incursions and its strategy in Parliament on the Finance Bill.
BJP has decided that after Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj spelled out the reasons for BJP's agitation in both the Houses and why it is demanding the Prime Minister's resignation, the party will stage a walkout and let the government pass the Finance Bill, Appropriations Bill, Rail Budget and Demands for Grants.
The Opposition is also demanding the removal of JPC Chairperson PC Chacko for acting in a "partisan, prejudicial" manner in the draft report on 2G scam. BJP has expressed its ire over the charge in Chacko's report that the telecom policy adopted by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government had caused a loss of Rs 42,000 crore to the exchequer.
In the Parliamentary Party meeting, BJP also discussed the Chinese incursions. "The Chinese have dangerous intentions but the Indian government is taking the issue very lightly. This matter should be taken seriously. We request the government to tell us what defence and technology equipment it is using to deal with the Chinese," Prasad said.
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