Jaiswal accuses BJP of being in the business of lies

Union minister for coal, Sri Prakash Jaiswal has accused the BJP of being in the "business of lies” in the coal allocation scam.

 

In Lucknow, Jaiswal said that the BJP was spreading rumours.

 

“They should first ascertain their facts”, the minister said adding that if the facts proved him guilty, “I will apologise to the nation or else the BJP will.” He said that if the Parliament had been allowed to function, the truth would have been outed and the BJP unable to spread misinformation.

 

“No coal blocks were identified in my tenure as coal minister. If no blocks were identified, where is the question of allotting them?” he asked.

 

On Tuesday, BJP spokesperson Ravi Shanker Prasad had said that the scam in the allocation of coal blocks had reached the Prime Minister and that the allocation of 142 blocks should be cancelled and the matter be investigated by a committee constituted by the Central Vigilance Commission. The BJP has also alleged a high degree of nepotism in the allocation of blocks to at least nine companies owned by relatives of Congress ministers.

 

“When an inquiry is under progress why is the BJP talking irreverently”, the Congressman asked.

 

Jaiswal also touched on the allocation of blocks to one Manoj Kumar Jayaswal who has been targeted by the BJP for being a relative of the minister.

 

“When no coal block was allotted during my tenure how does the question of relatives or non relatives arise”, he said. According to Jaiswal, from 1993 till the UPA came to power, 198 coal blocks were allowed. After 2009, no allocations were made.

 

He defended the Prime Minister saying that the decision to allocate the blocks was taken in the interest of speeding up industrialisation.

 

The scam is being investigated by a special task force but the BJP has been expressed the fear that an impartial inquiry by a body controlled by the centre is not possible.