‘Instead of exchequer, money went to Cong’

The BJP scaled up its attack on the Centre over the CAG report on coal blocks on Monday, with senior leader Sushma Swaraj charging that the Congress got hefty payoffs (mota maal) for the allocations.

The BJP scaled up its attack on the Centre over the CAG report on coal blocks on Monday, with senior leader Sushma Swaraj charging that the Congress got hefty payoffs (mota maal) for the allocations.

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The party also demanded that all 142 coal block allocations be cancelled, and re-auctions be held again to allocate coalfields.

“Congress has got hefty payoffs (mota maal) in these allocations,” Swaraj said. “Revenue has come not to the government treasury but to Congress coffers.” Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley demanded cancellation of the mining licences and said: “Cancel all 142 coal block allocations. Then put them to competitive bidding. The truth will then come out whether the loss was correct or not. In the 2G spectrum case, subsequent history has proved the CAG right.”

Swaraj plainly said that Parliament would not be able to function till the PM stepped down, saying she — and Janata Dal (United) president Sharad Yadav — had said so plainly in an all-party meeting with the Speaker on Monday morning.

She claimed that a fresh auction had been held in the 2G spectrum case partly because of the opposition’s disrupting Parliament in 2010 over the issue, saying the subsequent gain to the exchequer far outweighed the loss caused by the disruption itself.

“If the exchequer gains Rs 1.86 lakh crore here too, obstruction of Parliament will serve its purpose,” she added.

The party also made it clear that while it wanted larger opposition cooperation on the demand for the PM's resignation, it will pursue its course even if it got isolated on the matter.

Questioning the PM’s assertion that delay in allocation would have led to lower energy production and growth, Swaraj said, “Where is power, GDP growth or revenue today?”

Jaitley accused the PM of diverting blame — to federalism, need for growth, the law ministry and CAG — even while claiming to own responsibility.