Coalgate: NDA divided over quitting Lok Sabha

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The NDA is divided on the proposed move to resign en masse from the Lok Sabha on the Coalgate issue — alleged scam in the coal block allocation — two years before the general election.

A section of the BJP is toying with this idea saying that after the logjam in Parliament the next step will be to resign from the parliamentary panel. And after that the BJP will hold meetings across the country. The last option will obviously be to quit from the Lok Sabha.

But its allies in the NDA on Thursday virtually rejected the very idea saying that this is neither practical nor feasible politically. While some non-BJP MPs in the NDA asked why should they resign suggesting why not the BJP members from the Rajya Sabha also resign if the party sees the corruption issue would bring the NDA back to power at the Centre.

The BJP or the NDA can launch an agitation on the corruption issue only with a credible face. But the BJP’s current strategy in Parliament is of 'disruption and no discussion' until Prime Minister Manmohan Singh resigns.

But in the next week it has to modify the strategy as the government cannot accept its demand come what may. The government managers made it clear that it will not adjourn the Parliament session sine die. Concluding the session early will mean the government cannot face the opposition, they said.

Now the issue is whether the BJP and its allies have reached a point of no return. The picture will be clear next week when the NDA leaders meet on Monday morning to decide the next course of action.

Asked whether a JPC on the coal allocation scam could end the impasse, a BJP leader said, “We have seen the fate of the JPC on spectrum allocation. Therefore it cannot be accepted. And a discussion on the coal allocation scam in the two Houses of Parliament in the coming days would end the very issue".

No rift, says JD(U)

After reports of rift in the NDA over demand for the Prime Minister’s resignation, ally JD(U) came out in support, as party president Sharad Yadav asserted: “NDA is together on all issues.”

Sources disclosed that BJP’s former ally AIADMK has also assured the opposition alliance of its support to NDA’s demand.

It is learnt that leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj has called a meeting of the leaders of the opposition parties to clarify BJP’s stand on the issue and also to ascertain their views.

Mamata for all-party meeting to defuse deadlock

Amid continuing standoff between the government and Opposition in Parliament, key UPA ally Trinamul Congress on Thursday suggested that an all-party meeting should be called to defuse the crisis, saying the Opposition needs to be taken taken into confidence over the issue.

TC chief Mamata Banerjee said the Opposition has a 'prerogative' to raise issues but indicated that it was for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to decide whether or not to accept the demand for his resignation.

“Meeting of all-political parties is very nuch needed to resolve the issue. On what format Opposition wants discussion must be discussed with them. We must take Opposition into confidence. There are so many big issues and it can be sorted out through talks, negotiation and discussion,” Mamata told reporters when asked about the way forward to resolve the current impasse in Parliament.

Strategy on coal issue only after PM statement: CPM

The CPM on Thursday said it would decide its strategy on the coal block allocation issue on the basis of a statement Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may make in Parliament on the matter. Unlike the principal opposition BJP, the CPM has demanded a clarification from Singh after the CAG said the coal block allocations by the government had led to extending undue benefits to private parties.

CPM leader Sitaram Yechury said the Prime Minister, if he makes a statement in Parliament, should clarify why the government did not implement its own decision of allocating coal blocks through competitive bidding and whether it would book all those responsible for giving away the blocks without bidding between 2005 and 2009.

“Depending on that clarification, we will take the next course of action. On that basis, we will take the issue forward,” he said.

On the three days of disruption in Parliament, he said, “Apart from presiding officers of both the Houses, the government has the responsibility to call the opposition parties and discuss a way out of the impasse.”