NEW DELHI, Sept 3:
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s efforts to reach out to BJP to end the Parliamentary stand-off over the missing coal files issue failed tonight with BJP not giving him any assurance on the smooth running of the House tomorrow.
Singh held a meeting with BJP leaders L K Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley late this evening and requested them to cooperate in the passage of important financial legislations in Parliament but the Opposition was unmoved and said it will take a call on the issue after a meeting of its senior MPs tomorrow morning.
Asking the Opposition to forget the past, the Prime Minister sought BJP’s support in passing of important financial legislations including the Pensions Bill and Securities and Exchange Board of India (Amendment) Bill, sources said.
During the nearly 90-minute meeting at the Prime Minister’s residence, BJP maintained it is not responsible for the disruptions in Parliament and accused Congress MPs of causing disruptions.
The Prime Minister called the BJP leaders to his residence to sort out issues that came up after his statement in Parliament earlier in the day on the missing coal blocks allocation files failed to break the deadlock.
The BJP leaders told the Prime Minister that “tempers are running high” in BJP over the manner in which Singh walked out of both Houses “in a huff” after his statement on the issue without answering any of the clarifications sought by the opposition.
The main Opposition also reiterated that it has been cooperating with the Government and helping in passage of important bills by sitting till late but has not been allowed to raise its issues.
BJP will hold a meeting of its senior MPs tomorrow morning to decide on whether to support the Government in passing key pending legislations or force adjournments.
Party sources said BJP may support passage of the Land Acquisition Bill which is slated to come up in the Rajya Sabha tomorrow.
BJP was upset as the Prime Minister left both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha immediately after making statements in the two Houses. BJP leaders said they wanted to seek clarifications from the Prime Minister but could not.
To protest this, BJP leaders boycotted a meeting called by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar this afternoon and decided to vociferously protest in Parliament tomorrow.
Amidst this, the Prime Minister took the initiative of inviting the top BJP leaders for discussions.
Sources said Singh personally called up Advani and both leaders of the Opposition and invited them to a meeting with him tonight.
Earlier in the day, BJP led the Opposition onslaught in Parliament and expressed dissatisfaction at the Prime Minister’s statement on missing coal files saying their queries have not been answered and the steps taken by government to recover the missing files have not been listed.
BJP is furious that Meira Kumar did not allow Swaraj to speak. Even Advani, who raised his hand seeking permission to speak, was ignored by the Chair.
“All norms were broken in the Lok Sabha. The Leader of the Opposition was insulted when she was not permitted to speak. Her mike was muted. Even Advani, who rarely raises his hand to speak, was not allowed. Have you heard of any Parliament in the world where Leader of Opposition is not allowed to speak”? BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said.
Earlier, breaking his silence over missing coal files, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh today promised a thorough probe, including by CBI, if the required papers are not traced so that the guilty can be punished but the opposition was dissatisfied and stalled the proceedings.
Amidst attack from the Opposition, he insisted in Parliament that the Government is making all efforts to locate the untraced documents and its intent to facilitate a proper probe should not be questioned as it has “nothing to hide”.
Contending that there should be no “hasty” conclusion that something is “fishy”, he said a “vast majority” of papers sought by CBI have already been handed over and the Government will abide by the Supreme Court timeline for handing over of all the files.
“I would like to emphasise that the Government is making all efforts to locate the papers requisitioned by the CBI and, at this stage, it would be premature to say that some papers are indeed missing,” Singh said in identical statements in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on demands by members.
“Let me assure this august House that the Government has nothing to hide,” he said.
Promising action, he said, “If the records in question are indeed found missing, the Government will carry out a thorough investigation and ensure that the guilty are brought to book …If the Government is unable to locate some of these papers within the stipulated time, then as directed by the court, a report will be filed with the CBI for appropriate inquiry/ investigation.”
He said, “A vast majority of the papers sought by the CBI have already been handed over to them. However, disregarding the factual position, some members have gone ahead and drawn their own conclusions that there is something fishy and the Government is hiding something.”
His statement, however, led to a major uproar in both Houses and stalling of proceedings for rest of the day as the Opposition expressed dissatisfaction.
They wanted to seek more clarifications but were upset as the Prime Minister left soon after making the statement in both Houses.
Singh said right from the days the CAG began its exercise of performance audit, the Government has always provided its fullest cooperation to the CAG and later to the CBI. “We will continue to do so,” he said.
He said the matter of allocation of coal blocks is sub-judice and the apex court is closely monitoring the CBI investigations.
“In such a situation, I urge the honourable members of this august body not to draw hasty conclusions and let the House continue with its normal business,” Singh said.
The dissatisfaction among opposition benches over PM’s statement led to repeated adjournments of both Houses, which were finally adjourned for the day at 3 pm.
Earlier in the Rajya Sabha, Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley attacked the Government alleging “arbitrary allocations” and “act of nepotism, favoritism” in coal block allocations and said there is an attempt to destroy evidence so that there is no proof of crime.
“An attempt is being made to mislead the House that all files missing pertain to that prior to 2004,” he said, alleging that “every conceivable element of bad governance is present there.”
He also sought to know how many of the missing files pertained to the period between 2006 and 2009 when Prime Minister held the charge of the Coal Ministry and what steps the government was taking to recover the missing files.
Opposition members created uproar as they wanted to seek further clarifications from the PM who had left by then.
Deputy Chairman P J Kurien said he could not help as the Prime Minister had left. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajeev Shukla said the Prime Minister had made a statement as wanted by the Opposition members. For any further clarifications, Shukla said, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal was in the House to reply.
In the Lok Sabha, Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj and BJP leader L K Advani wanted to speak after PM’s statement at 2 pm, but Speaker Meira Kumar rejected the demand leading to uproar and the House was adjourned till 3 pm. When the House reassembled, similar scenes were witnessed forcing its adjournment for the day.
Jaitley earlier said the Coal Minister has given two separate statements in Rajya Sabha in which the number of files missing are different and remarked, “it is an example of how the arithmetic of this government works”.
Attacking the Prime Minister for his remarks that he was not the custodian of files in the Coal Ministry, V Maitreyan (AIADMK) said, “As far as coal scam is concerned you and you alone are answerable to the country…Mystery of missing files in coal scam is getting murkier by day.”
He said, “last week PM was unusually aggressive that he is not the custodian of files. He should say he is the custodian of files in PMO” and sought to know who was Joint Secretary of the PMO, who had gone to the CBI office and why he went there.
Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M) asked why no FIR was registered in regard to missing files and said, “We are not satisfied with answers by the Coal Minister…I had raised one point why no FIR was done, no case was lodged and no investigation is done…the fact that it is not done increases the bar of suspiscion…Identify and punish the guilty.”
He questioned why government did not request the CAG to furnish details of the missing files.
Derek O Brien (Trinamool) questioned who was the custodian of missing files and when and where these files went missing.
Naresh Agarwal (SP) sought to know who was handling the coal portfolio during the period when files went missing and what were the observations given by the Public Accounts Committee on CAG report.
Mayawati (BSP) said the issue of missing files was a serious matter and questioned, “Why no FIR was lodged despite Supreme Court’s intervention and why the government was delaying lodging the FIR against the guilty.”
Amid cries of “shame-shame”, Venkaiah Naidu (BJP) said the Prime Minister did not answer any of the questions raised by members. “Not even one question was answered,” he said.
Ravi Shankar Prasad (BJP) remarked that the magnitude of the scam has agitated people of India and “we request PM to reply…Now we are being told that our concerns would be addressed by the Coal Minister” which is not acceptable.
Shukla retorted, “You are trying to take undue political advantage. BJP is disrespecting Parliament.”(PTI)
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