Is there anything ‘political’ behind the Central Bureau of Investigation’s decision to name Kumar Mangalam Birla in the coal case FIR? Though the Congress said that law was taking its course, the Bharatiya Janata Party believed that eminent industrialists were being targeted for not toeing the Congress line.
Senior BJP MP and the first complainant in the coal case, Hansraj Ahir, told Business Line that Birla was being hounded for saving the Prime Minister and Congress MP, Naveen Jindal.
“The names of the Prime Minister and the then MoS (Minister of State) in the Coal Ministry should have been in the FIR. The Congress is punishing the country’s industrialists like Birlas, Tatas, Godrejs and Kirloskars for the wrongdoings of one Jindal,” Ahir said.
He said if the Centre was honest in the probe, it should have cancelled the coal licences to the private companies by now.
“This is a politically-motivated step. The Birlas have made large contributions to the country by setting up a number of industries. Our issue is with the corrupt system promoted by the Congress, not with any industrial houses,” Ahir added.
Prakash Javadekar, BJP spokesperson and MP, said the development was a unique turnaround in the multi-crore coal scam. He said former Coal Secretary P.C. Parakh, who had first prepared the Cabinet note suggesting auction for coal block allocations, has now been booked by the CBI.
“In the first place, had the UPA Government accepted the suggestion made in his Cabinet note way back in 2004 for adopting auction route, the entire coal scam would not have occurred. The Manmohan Singh Government, instead of accepting the proposal, had deliberately kept it in cold storage to enable it to allot coal blocks arbitrarily,” Javadekar alleged.
He reiterated BJP’s demand for the Prime Minister’s resignation. jigeesh.am@thehindu.co.in