The Congress and the BJP
both hardened their stance over the controversial allocation of coal blocks on Sunday with the government rejecting demands for cancellation of licences and the main Opposition party reiterating that it would continue to push for the Prime Minister's resignation .
"There is no question of cancellation of licences as the allocation was done according to the rules. De-allocation of mines would result in a waste of investment and we don't want to create chaos in the country," Minister for Parliamentary Affiars Pawan Bansal said.
"If somebody misrepresented the facts, it doesn't mean that the coal blocks should be re-allocated."
Bansal's stance dashed hopes for a resolution to the logjam between the two biggest parties in Parliament as earlier in the day, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, had clearly said that cancellation of licences awarded between 2004 and 2011 was one of BJP's primary demands.
"We have been demanding an independent investigation and for the coal blocks to be cancelled," she said. "The BJP is not backing down from the demand for resignation of the PM. It is only for the Parliament to run that we have asked for the first two to be fulfilled."
Defending her party's move to not allow the Parliament to function, Swaraj added: "There are losses only to the tune of Rs.10 crores when parliament does not run. But if licenses are cancelled and competitive bidding takes place, then we will get lakhs of crores of rupees into the treasury. So we have to look beyond small returns.
"If the government says that they will not cancel allocations, then we will also stick to our demands."
Slamming BJP, Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal on Sunday said no one can force Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to resign till he enjoys the support of people.
"No one can force the Prime Minister to resign as far as he enjoys majority, as far as he has the support of the people," he said adding why they were not seeking resignation of Chief Ministers in BJP-ruled states which were named in the report.
"There is a political conspiracy. BJP is trying to spread anarchy in the country. We know how to reply to this. Congress party workers are ready to reply to it...Our government and party are committed to uphold Constitution.
"BJP should have patience...if they continue with this kind of agitation, they will never be able to come to power for long years," he told reporters in Kanpur.Meanwhile, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) dismissed calls for a judicial probe into the matter and denied reports of a rift between the coal ministry and the inter-ministerial group (IMG) reviewing progress in the allocated coal blocks.
"There will be no judicial inquiry... no blocks will be cancelled," government sources told Headlines Today. "PMO has only asked the IMG to take and expedite cases that are pending. The IMG's work is different from en masse cancellations."
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