Union law and justice minister Salman Khurshid on Monday attacked the BJP for stalling Parliament over the coal block allocation issue.
The law minister also sought to know from the Opposition the amount of loss the country is incurring for the repeated disruption of the House.
With Parliament remaining deadlocked for the ninth day on Monday over the issue of CAG report on coal block allocation, the law minister sought the cost such repeated disruptions were having on the nation.
“Why doesn’t the BJP give us the loss they are causing to the country by doing what they are doing in Parliament. The presumptive, the real or imaginary, what is the loss?” Mr Khurshid said outside Parliament. Both Houses of Parliament were unable to function as the BJP persisted with its demand for resignation of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on the issue.
“Everyday, the country is losing not just the time in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. But in terms of what they are doing by paralysing the decisions and legislation that the government plans,” he said.
The law minister claimed that by the frequently disrupting Parliament the BJP was deliberately preventing the government’s proposed legislation against corruption.
“This is a clear indication that BJP is not interested in associating with the system which is transparent and makes people accountable,” Mr Khurshid said.
The law minister dismissed the BJP’s condition for allowing discussion in Parliament only after the cancellation of coal block allocations.
When told that if cancellations were made and the blocks were auctioned then the exchequer will earn more money, he said, “Exchequer is not everything. If finance ministry doubled the Income Tax then also more money will come to exchequer.”