"As A Raja had to go for 2G scam, and Dayanidhi Maranhad to resign for his role in Aircel-Maxis deal, similarly the then CoalMinister Manmohan Singh has to go," BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekarsaid.
Rejecting Congress' appeal of a parliamentary debate on coalbloc allocation issue, he maintained it is only logical that Singh shouldresign as a fair investigation will not be possible without his resignation ashe is the Prime Minister and hence in-charge of CBI.
Though the Congress-led UPA government is reportedly intouch with the main opposition and is trying to break the deadlock by the offerof forming a Joint Parliamentary Committee as was done in the case of 2Gspectrum scam or form a Committee to look into the coal block allocations, BJPand its NDA allies are not likely to allow Parliament to function this week.
BJP cited recent experiences to insist that debates inParliament or even in JPC on the 2G scam have so far not yielded desiredresults as concrete action has not been taken.
"Congress' appeal for a debate is a sham as they havenever respected commitments made in parliamentary debates. In the CommonwealthGames case, the Prime Minister appointed the high-powered Shunglu Committee andpromised to act upon its recommendations. But though the committee came outwith six reports, no action was taken and the report was dumped,"Javadekar said.
Javadekar said a similar scenario had emerged on the 2G scamissue when the government resisted the opposition demand for a JPC. BJP-led NDAhad forced a washout of the almost the entire winter session of Parliament to presstheir demand in 2010.
"Congress handled the 2G more shabbily. First, it didnot accept NDA's demand for JPC.... Then, they appointed JPC which they are nowdestroying. The PM himself had defended Raja to the hilt," he alleged.
BJP claimed it was only after the Supreme Court intervenedthat Raja was removed and the CBI inquiry yielded results after 16 months whenthe court started monitoring it.
"Now in JPC, they are not agreeing to the demand tocall the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister as witnesses. They want tocall Atal Bihari Vajpayee. This is Congress' approach and strategy,"Javadekar said.
The party denied it was disrespecting Parliament by forcingadjournments and not agreeing to a debate.
"We have all the respect for Parliament. We love it,cherish it and want to protect it. But Congress has destroyed the institutions.We are only echoing the anguish of the nation," Javadekar said.
The party charged there is a "method in the madness ofCongress in defending the indefensible". He said Congress always tries tofirst deny a scam, then delay the action against it, and finally attack theconstitutional authority looking into it.
"Debate cannot be for delaying action against theguilty.... Unfortunately for Congress, there is no escape route for Congressthis time as the Prime Minister was the Coal Minister during 2006-09 when the70 billion tons of coal reserves worth Rs 51 lakh crore were alloted for freeto 143 private companies," Javadekar said.
