New Delhi:
To bolster its demand for the Prime Minister's resignation, the BJP has furnished letters which it says establish that Dr Manmohan Singh allowed valuable coal fields to be allocated without any form of transparency.
BJP leader Prakash Javadekar says that in 2008, union minister Subodh Kant Sahai wrote to the Prime Minister about a company named SKS Ipsat Power that had applied for two coal fields in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. "I shall be grateful for your personal intervention in this matter," Mr Sahai wrote. Allegations that SKS was linked to Mr Sahai's brother, Sudhir Kant Sahai, were dismissed by a court earlier this year. The BJP, however, wants a re-investigation.
The BJP says that as soon as Mr Sahai's letter was received, the Prime Minister's Office wrote to the Coal Ministry asking for "appropriate action" to be taken. The party alleges that the coal fields were allotted just a day later to SKS.
Mr Javadekar said "the amazing efficiency" of the Prime Minister's Office needs to be scrutinised. The BJP has dared the Congress to prove that the letters from Mr Sahai and the Prime Minister's Office are fake. Mr Sahai said that the allegations are "a concocted story" already rejected by a court. Earlier this week, when asked why he had lobbied for SKS, he said that as an MP from Jharkhand, it was his job to push projects that could help with the development of his state.
A few months after SKS Power was granted the coal fields it had sought, it was taken to court by a rival company, which alleged that Mr Sahai's brother, Sudhir Kant Sahai, was on the board of SKS, and had represented the company before a screening committee in charge of deciding who would get coal blocks. But in May this year, the Delhi High Court found no merit in the case against Mr Sahai. "Not a scrap of paper has been produced by PIL to prove its claim that Respondent No.4 (SKS Ispat Limited) was promoted by the family of Respondent No.5 (Shri Subodh Kant Sahai). This has turned out to be a preposterous claim made on affidavit by PIL without any sensible responsibility." (
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Earlier this month, the national auditor said that between 2004 and 2009, private firms benefitted by upto Rs 1.86 lakh crores because they were given coal fields at throwaway prices. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) did not indict the Prime Minister, who was Coal Minister when many of the sales took place, but said his government had missed opportunities to introduce an auction for coal blocks. The PM has disputed the report and its estimate of losses. But the BJP has said that Dr Singh must take moral responsibility for allowing a huge swindle on his watch, and resign. It has refused to allow Parliament to function for six days now.