The BJP has now unearthed a `75,000-crore coal scam in the UPA government. The party has directly blamed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for it, saying that the scam related to the period when the ministry was under his charge.
Briefing reporters on the resolution on corruption which was passed in the BJP national executive on Friday, party spokesman Prakash Javadekar said the party ridiculed the statements made by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Dr Manmohan Singh in which the two leaders spoke of their commitment to check corruption. “The UPA government is the most corrupt government in the history of independent India. The cases of corruption and various scams seem to have the tacit support of the Prime Minister whose silence on these issues is questionable,” the BJP spokesman said. Mr Javadekar further explained that the coal scam took place in the allotment of coal blocks.
He said a bill was tabled in Parliament in 2006 in which it was said that coal blocks would be allotted through the process of auction. The bill was finally passed in 2010 but in between 73 coal blocks were allotted to 143 private companies without the auction process. The coal ministry was held by the Prime Minister during this period because the then coal minister Shibu Soren had resigned.