Wrong in every way

PM refuses to accept coal scam responsibility

The Bharatiya Janata Party's insistence on continuing to stall proceedings of Parliament over the scam involving the questionable allocation by the UPA Government of coal blocks to private parties without competitive bidding, cannot be faulted on the premise that the party is running away from a debate in the two Houses. 

The reason why the BJP has adopted an aggressive posture is because the Prime Minister has steadfastly refused to accept moral responsibility for the damning revelations that the Comptroller and Auditor-General has made in its report on the dubious allocations. Although Mr Manmohan Singh held the coal portfolio when the decision to award coal blocks to private players was made, he does not want to admit that the decision was wrong. Over and above that, Congress leaders have jumped to the defence of the Prime Minister, with counter-allegations against the Opposition. Given the fact that the UPA Government is not inclined to even admit a wrongdoing, there is then very little that is left to debate on the issue in Parliament. Had the Prime Minister at least accepted  moral responsibility for what had happened and then sought to defend his intention, perhaps there would be some purpose in a discussion. It is true that Parliament is the appropriate forum to debate contentious issues, but debates have meaning only if the Government is open to accepting a wrongdoing when there is one. After all, nobody is suggesting that the Prime Minister had mala fide intent in deciding to give away coal blocks without an auction. It may be that Mr Singh had the noblest of intention in doing what he did. It may also be that the Prime Minister wanted to move quickly in enhancing coal production. But he needs to come clean on all that. At the same time, it is also true that the BJP cannot disrupt proceedings of Parliament forever on the issue. It has to sit down with the Congress to end the deadlock. Meanwhile, the country has not forgotten the disgraceful manner in which the Congress and the UPA which it leads behaved during the debates in Parliament on the 2G Spectrum scam, refusing to accept wrongdoing even as the CAG, the Central Vigilance Commission and the courts were seized of the irregularities that officials of the Telecommunications Ministry and the then Telecom Minister had indulged in.

As for the Congress's accusation that the BJP has been indulging in “mobocracy” and insulting democracy by stalling the functioning of Parliament, the fact is that the Congress has shamelessly held democratic institutions to ransom. Remember how it plotted the abrupt adjournment of the Rajya Sabha on December 29, 2011, during the debate on the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, so that no vote on the issue could be taken up. Yet another instance of the ruling party's ‘mobocracy' was when its members in the Public Accounts Committee created a ruckus over the panel's final report on the 2G Spectrum scam that indicted the Government. Congress (and DMK) members also stalled the appearance of various witnesses before the PAC and heckled some witnesses. The tamasha that Congress members had indulged in during the Joint Parliamentary Committee meetings on the issue is also fresh in memory. That the same Congress should now pontificate on the need to respect democratic institutions, is amusing.

Courtesy : The Pioneer