After ending the monsoon session of Parliament, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal Tuesday in the move to justify the ruling congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's stand on Coal block allocation, went among the public and acknowledged them about the govt's stand.
According to sources, to clarify its stand over the alleged charges of coal scam leveled against congress party, the Congress High Command's (CHC's) has decided to send central ministers to various parts of the country and counter the coalgate propaganda.
Stating that the allegations levelled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were utterly baseless, Bansal attacked on the BJP for politicising the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India on the coal blocks allocation issue.
"The Bharatiya Janata Party did not allow the Parliament to function for the full month. They said objectionable there... The CAG report did not go to the PAC. It got leaked beforehand," said Bansal.
"They (BJP) created a storm in the country on this issue, and attempted to create an atmosphere in the country that everything has happened wrong in the country on the party of the Centre," he added.
Asserting that the ruling UPA Government felt the need to tell the people about the truth over the coal blocks allocation issue, Bansal said, "So, after the finish of the session (Monsoon Session of Parliament), we decided to visit various areas of the country and tell the people about the truth through the media."
"And, the truth is that the allegation of 1,86,000 crores is totally baseless and not based on facts. If anybody wants to argue, then he cannot support it," he added.
Congress Party had earlier on Monday held the CAG equally responsible for the governance roadblocks as the opposition BJP in the recently concluded Monsoon Session of Parliament on the coal blocks allocation issue.
Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said the disruption in Parliament has unnecessarily tarred the India story.
"Regrettably, the responsibility is as much of the CAG, as it is the BJP. In the past 22 months, the CAG has been tossing presumptive, hypothetical, at times even mythical figures, even mythical figures in the public domain, which has made the public domain toxic, which has created roadblocks for governance and which has unnecessarily tarred the India story," he told mediapersons in New Delhi.
The BJP-led opposition disrupted the proceedings in the Monsoon Session of Parliament and deprived the government from putting forth its views on the issue.
The Monsoon Session of Parliament came to an end last Friday after most of its sittings were washed out over the controversial coal block allocation issue and off late on quota in SC/ST promotion in government jobs.
The coal scandal dominated the Monsoon Session of Parliament after the CAG report said that the under-priced sales of coalfields would have cost the national exchequer as much as 33 billion dollars in lost revenues.
The second-worst session since the 2009 Lok Sabha elections functioned for only six out of 19 days and remained paralysed for the remaining period due to the standoff between ruling UPA Government and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party.
The Prime Minister blamed the BJP for disrupting the Monsoon Session of Parliament over the coal blocks allocation issue, and described the inactivity as 'a negation of democracy'.
Dr Singh said there were important issues that needed to be discussed and resolved in Parliament.
Reiterating the UPA Government's stand on the coal blocks allocation issue, Dr. Singh said his government has great respect for the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, but retained the right to question its findings on coal block allocations, besides other issues.
The BJP is demanding the Prime Minister's resignation of Dr. Singh since he headed the Coal Ministry between 2006 and 2009, when many of the sales occurred.
--With ANI Inputs--
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