The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, a key constituent of UPA-II, has urged the Bharatiya Janata Party to allow Parliament to function in the interest of the people.
DMK parliamentary party leader T.R. Baalu said as the government had announced that it was ready for a discussion on the coal block allocation issue vis-à-vis the CAG’s report, it was not fair on the part of the Opposition parties to stall the proceedings of Parliament endlessly, wasting huge amount of public money.
On the BJP’s demand that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should resign as the alleged irregularities had been reported when he was holding the portfolio of coal, Mr. Baalu told The Hindu that normally the CAG reports were discussed in the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and later taken up in the House based on PAC’s report.
In the present instance, since Dr. Singh himself had made a suo motu statement on the coal issue and even agreed to answer queries, it was for the BJP and other parties to discuss the issue on the floor of the House and justify their demand against the PM.
The DMK leader said he had given a notice in Lok Sabha last week seeking a short-duration discussion on the coal issue.
