Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Senior BJP leaders LK Advani, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj Murli Manohar Joshi met President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday and submitted a memorandum on the coalgate and the government’s attack on the CAG.
Speaking to the press after the meeting, Advani said they requested the President to intervene as the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) was coming under attack from the government over its report in the coal blocks allocation irregularities.
Advani said the PM and his ministers’ attack on the CAG was saddening.
“If the PM speaks like this, then the members of his government get a free licence to do the same,” the senior BJP leader rued.
Advani said the government was neck-deep in corruption, and sought a special probe into the coal blocks allocation scam.
He said the President had assured them of suitable action on their demands.
“We requested that while our battle against the government on corruption will continue in Parliament and outside, his (President’s) duty was to intervene if any Constitutional institution was coming under attack,” Advani said.
The BJP has been demanding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s resignation, cancellation of coal blocks, and a fair probe into the matter.
On Tuesday, the Congress had challenged the BJP for a public debate on the coal block allocation.
“If anyone has personal or professional interest, then the question ought to be directed at them. On the bigger question of allotment of coal blocks and CAG’s presumptive loss, the party is ready to discuss in detail. If BJP has power, then it should come forward for a public debate on the issue which will expose whose face gets blackened by Coalgate,” Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said.
First Published: Wednesday, September 12, 2012, 09:11