Congress president Sonia Gandhi has spoken to BJP leader Sushma Swaraj in an attempt to end the impasse in Parliament over “coalgate,” even as the latter stuck to her party line that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should take responsibility for the multi-crore loss and resign.
Gandhi followed up her telephonic call to Swaraj on Friday by holding a meeting of the Congress core committee on Saturday, attended by senior leaders, wherein she discussed the Parliament logjam and later called on President Pranab Mukherjee.
The BJP has been demanding the resignation of the prime minister, accusing him of presiding over the regime as Cabinet minister for coal when the blocks were allotted on nomination basis instead of competitive bidding. “There will be no let up. We will further intensify our fight inside and outside Parliament,” BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said.
The Comptroller and Auditor General has put the notional loss incurred by the exchequer at a whopping Rs 1.86 lakh crore. While Swaraj reiterated her party’s stand during her telephonic conversation with Gandhi, she promised to convey Gandhi’s appeal to her party colleagues. However, what has interested political circles in the capital was the meeting Gandhi held with Mukherjee. Apparently, they discussed the current impasse, even as there was no official word on the meeting.
The core committee, informed sources said, discussed the pros and cons of instituting a judicial probe into the issue, but there was no unanimity on it. Some members felt that holding a probe will be admission of guilt and there was no need for it especially when the government and the party have been maintaining that there was no scam. Moreover, they felt, CBI was already inquiring into the shortcomings in the allocation.
The third front parties, led by Samajwadi Party veteran Mulayam Singh Yadav, have demanded judicial probe into the alleged scam.
The core committee meeting, chaired by Gandhi, was attended by the prime minister, senior ministers A K Antony and P Chidambaram and Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel. Coal Minister Sri Prakash Jaiswal was summoned and so were Law Minister Salman Khurshid and Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal. Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, who is also the Leader of the Lok Sabha, was present during the deliberations.
Sources indicated that Gandhi may meet the allies of the United Progressive alliance and friendly parties in a bid to break the deadlock in Parliament. This was decided at the core committee meeting where members felt that the party should reach out to UPA partners and supporting parties.
On the conversation between Gandhi and Swaraj, sources within the party stressed that it indicated the preparedness of the Congress party to consult all stakeholders to ensure that Parliament functions smoothly.
However, a large section of the MPs are disappointed since the last week of the Monsoon Session got washed out due to disruption by the BJP. The session is scheduled to end on September 7.
Amid the din, the government succeeded in passing at least four Bills, but the BJP was in no mood to allow passage of bills next week .
“This is not a question of bills but of the nation. Our fight will continue,” Hussain said.