BJP vows to take on Manmohan

On the eve of an all-party meeting called to persuade non-Congress parties to join rank against corruption, the BJP-led NDA continued to hold its ground on boycotting Parliament demanding prime minister’s resignation over coal block scam.

The saffron party accused the Congress of “using Parliament to legitimise corruption” while ruling out the UPA move to break logjam for allowing both the Houses to resume function from Monday.

“A new tradition is being set up in the country by Congress to legitimise corruption by holding discussion in Parliament,” argued BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

In a counter attack, the Congress said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is ready with the threadbare response to charges that stems out from the recent CAG report on coal block allocation which led to a presumptive loss of Rs 1.86 lakh crore.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla told Deccan Herald: “The dialogue is the only way out. We have two weeks of session left and if BJP allows the Parliament to function, the issue can be debated at length”.

Shukla ruled out the possibility of declaring the session sine die, if nothing comes out of the crucial meeting and back channel attempts to break ice.  

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar has also pitched in with her effort of convening a meeting of all the parties.