Coal row: Govt relents, says PM will ‘intervene’

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The Left is not going anywhere and that is a good thing. This country’s politics could do with a strong Left presence.

Sidharth Bhatia [1]

In the face of unrelenting pressure from the Opposition, that has stalled Parliament over the missing files on coal allocations, the government told Parliament on Thursday that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will intervene when the matter is debated on the floor.

The assurance in the Lok Sabha came after the Opposition raised this once again after Question Hour, with most speakers demanding a statement from the PM. Parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath then said “the government has nothing to hide, and nothing to conceal”. He said the coal minister was ready to make a statement, after which a discussion could be held in which “the Prime Minister will intervene”.
In the Rajya Sabha, minister of state for parliamentary affairs Rajeev Shukla said if “members are not satisfied” with the coal minister’s reply, “we can continue the discussion, (and) the Prime Minister may intervene, if it is required, in the coal scam case”.
In the Lok Sabha, Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj said while the Opposition did want the House to function it did not mean that the government should be allowed to do “whatever it pleases”. In the Rajya Sabha, Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley said since the PM was present in the House, he should reply.