New Delhi/Mumbai:
With the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) embroiled in a battle over the coal block allocation controversy, the Monsoon session of Parliament has, till now, been completely paralysed. However, communication channels to resolve the issue continue to remain open between the two parties after Congress President Sonia Gandhi spoke to senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj over the phone earlier this week.
The first public indications of this were available from Ms Swaraj's press conference today. She said that her party will allow discussions in Parliament only if the government cancels the coal block allocations and orders an independent probe on the allotments. Ms Swaraj said that she has conveyed her demands to Congress President Sonia Gandhi in a telephonic conversation.
"When I was asked how we can run the Parliament, I said two demands need to be fulfilled so that the Parliament can run. The first being that the coal block allocation be cancelled and the second, that a CBI probe is called for, then the Parliament can function," Ms Swaraj said.
The deadlock, however, continues. Sonia Gandhi, who left the country for a medical check-up on Saturday, has appointed Home Minister and leader in the Lok Sabha Sushil Kumar Shinde to hold further talks with the BJP over the impasse in Parliament. Mr Shinde has reportedly told Ms Swaraj that the two demands made by her party are difficult to accept. According to reports, the UPA top brass including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who returned to India from a summit in Iran earlier this week, is discussing a solution to end the deadlock in Parliament.
In her press conference today, Ms Swaraj had also clarified that her party's two demands have been communicated to the Centre only to ensure Parliament functions, and the BJP has not climbed down from its demand for the resignation of the Prime Minister.
"The coal block allocation is the biggest scam in history. And the PM has to resign. We are sticking to that demand. We have said we will let Parliament function if our other two demands of cancellation of coal block allocations and an independent probe are met," Ms Swaraj told the media today.
Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal immediately hit back at the BJP and said that they had no right to demand the Prime Minister's resignation. "No power in the world can demand resignation from the honourable Prime Minister. As long as he has the clear majority and the mandate of people is with him, till then he (PM) is not going to resign at any cost," the Coal Minister said.
The BJP has made it impossible for the Monsoon Session of Parliament to transact any business. For eight days, Parliament has been paralysed because of noisy disruptions by the BJP demanding the PM's resignation.
With only a week left in the Monsoon Session, and several key legislations on the agenda, the government is seeking to get on with Parliament proceedings. The Centre has been attacked for an alleged policy paralysis and needs to counter that by having important reforms cleared. State elections in Karnataka, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are scheduled to be held soon, and the alleged policy paralysis along with the corruption charges could severely damage Congress' prospects. All three states are currently ruled by a BJP-led government.
The CAG report says that the country lost close to Rs. 1.86 lakh crore because 142 coal fields were given cheaply to private and state-run firms between 2005 and 2009 instead of being auctioned. The Prime Minister was the country's Coal Minister during that period.
Sources have told NDTV that the licences for more than 50 coal blocks have been reviewed, and several of these could soon be cancelled. The companies who got these licences have allegedly failed to live upto their end of the deal. An inter-ministerial panel has studied approximately 58 companies who have allegedly failed to develop their coal fields after winning licences - these companies were sent show cause notices in April. The panel may, sources say, in the next few weeks recommend that a slew of licences be revoked for non-performance. The Prime Minister's Office has reportedly asked the Coal Ministry for urgent action. The Coal Minister, in turn, wants the government panel to deliver its verdict by September 15.