New Delhi:
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath today held talks with the BJP's seniormost leader LK Advani and is also expected to meet Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj on Monday to try and ensure that Parliament functions and the government is able to push important legislation in the last two weeks of the Budget session.
The BJP-led opposition has stalled Parliament for most of the session ever since the Houses reconvened after a recess, over various issues and is expected to scale up its protests after the CBI's admission in the Supreme Court today that a version of its report on the coal allocation investigation, submitted to judges last month, was seen in advance by Law Minister Ashwani Kumar, officials in the Coal Ministry and the Prime Minister's Office.
In the two-page affidavit, CBI chief Ranjit Sinha says the report was shared with these officials "as desired by them."
The opposition wants Law Minister Ashwani Kumar's resignation. The BJP has also said that the CBI's admission today establishes that the government is trying to influence the agency's investigation to protect the Prime Minister, who held direct charge of the Coal Ministry for some of the years under review. Dr Manmohan Singh, the opposition has said, must resign too.
"Whatever applies to the Law Minister applies to the PM as well," said the BJP's Jaswant Singh, stressing that both are equally accountable for a major breach of ethics and protocol.
The Congress has ruled out even the Law Minister's resignation, setting the stage for confrontation in Parliament.