Politics: Black as Coal

Politics:
Black as Coal


Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
recently dismissed the Comptroller
and Auditor General's
(CAG) report as flawed and factually incorrect,
questioning the very basis on
which it was prepared. He said the figures
presented in the CAG report that
suggest a loss of Rs 1.86 lakh crore on account
of irregularities in allocation of
coal blocks are purely presumptive.
Reading out from a written statement
to both houses of the Parliament, the
Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, Singh
said: "I want to assure the members that
as the minister in charge, I take full responsibility
for the decisions of the ministry.
I wish to say that any allegations of
impropriety are without basis and unsupported
by the facts."
Singh touched upon the history of all
government policies on coal block allocation
since 1993 and pointed out that
“the CAG's findings are flawed on multiple
counts”. He might as well have
brought a copy of the CAG report and
ripped it apart, but he decided to do it
figuratively instead. He started off with
dissecting the report, identifying the
three bases on which it was critical of
the coal block allocations.
He noted that according to the report
the government team in charge of allocation
of coal blocks did not follow a

transparent process. Singh also quoted
the report in which it was suggested that
the competitive bidding might as well
have been put in place way back in 2006,
with amendment of administrative directives
rather than going through a protracted
legal analysis that did nothing
other than delaying decisions. The PM
also told how the report suggested that
the existing process benefitted private
companies.
He struck down all these three points
made by the CAG at one go, saying, "According
to the assumptions and computations
made by the CAG, there is a
financial gain of about Rs.1.86 lakh crore
least interested in what is good for the
nation. They are either saving their back
in whatever way possible, or possibly
colluding to make sure that the truth –
which may be detrimental to the image
of both parties – remains hidden under
the filth created by all the mudslinging.
All that Congress ministers and politicians
are thinking about is the upcoming
Cabinet reshuffle, which is hogwash
anyway. Nothing fruitful has come from
such exercises lately, at least for the nation
and the common people. However,
portfolios are a big deal with ministers
and MPs and other big shots associated
with them. There’s big money involved.
and with the way things are moving, it
seems the Winter Session will meet with
the same fate or worse. That will mean
that after the budget session in 2013,
with the elections getting ever closer, the
politicians will jump into the electoral
battlegrounds and the parliament will
clearly be relegated to the sidelines.
Therefore, the Congress is trying
shamelessly to somehow sweep the coal
problem under the carpet and is either
busy blocking Twitter accounts or barraging
the opposition with counter-accusations.
Besides, there are just too
many scams to bother about. If by any
chance one is sorted out, what are the

to private parties. The observations of
the CAG are clearly disputable.”
Getting back to party politics, he also
expressed regret later before the press
that the BJP was continuing to disrupt
the normal functioning of parliament.
Quite natural, considering BJP has been
baying for his resignation for some time
now.
It is slowly getting clearer by the day
that both the Congress and the BJP are
Even the naïve in India must have noticed
by now that such exercises are a
waste of time – just replacing the devil
with the deep blue sea and vice versa.
The 2014 elections are getting closer
and the devils will be busy doing two
things: play their cards with an eye on
the future, or just simply scramble to get
their due. The nation meanwhile might
as well go to the pariah dogs. The current
session seems effectively sabotaged
chances that the others will not resurface?
It’s best to let the other sleeping
dogs lie.
The BJP’s situation as a party in shambles
is no better. Years have passed by
since Atal Bihari Vajpayee ruled the
roost, but the party is yet to find a leader
of even half his stature who can take the
game to the dynastic Congress. BJP perhaps
imagines itself to be in a see-saw
game with Congress, hoping that Con

gress’ downfall will automatically lead to
its rise. The possibility of a Third Front
has probably not hit it hard enough yet.
Besides, the game that it is playing with
Congress will in no way give it an upper
hand against the ruling party. Even the
public is well aware that it is between a
rock and a hard place.
However, the BJP is fancying its
chances – and there might be good reasons.
For the lack of a proper alternative,
voters might grudgingly give the party
another chance because they would certainly
never want the Congress to return
to power. This has happened before in
Indian politics in many forms and in
many states.
That explains BJP’s continued tirade
against the Prime Minister and the ruling
party. After the Prime Minister’s
statement in the parliament, the BJP
said the government was continuing to
make excuses so it could keep the facts
hidden.
"Country is upset with prime minister's
statement. He is making excuses
and is hiding the facts," BJP leader
Prakash Javadekar told reporters outside
the parliament.
Javadekar said the only thing that was
correct about the prime minister’s statement
was his admission that he was
fully responsible for the decisions of the
coal ministry.
"All the files related to coal allocation
had his stamp as the coal minister and
that is why we want him to resign," he
added.
There it goes again.