Does CAG report provide 'an iota of truth' for PM to quit?

By Sanjay Singh

New Delhi: In May this year, the Prime Minister made an emotional defence of his integrity in the coal blocks scam that may yet come to haunt him.

Returning to India after a trip to Myanmar, the PM said: “It is unfortunate that irresponsible allegations relating to irregularities in the allocation of coal blocks are being made without confirming facts. If there is any iota of truth, I will give up my public life. My long public career as finance minister, as Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and now as Prime Minister has been an open book,” he had said.

Now that the final report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on the allocation of coal blocks has indicated a benefit of Rs 1.86 lakh crore to private players, Manmohan Singh is expected to make a statement in Parliament on this. The report blames the coal ministry, which was headed by the PM from 2006 to 2009, for allocating blocks non-transparently, and politically it is difficult for the Congress party to distance the PM from the CAG’s observations.

Though it is not unusual for both houses of Parliament to be adjourned within minutes, Tuesday’s disruption is painful for Manmohan Singh and his party since this is the first time Mr Clean is himself the direct focus of attack on an issue relating to alleged corruption and crony capitalism. “In 2G, the Prime Minister was vicariously and morally responsible, here in the coal ghotala, which is even bigger than 2G, he is directly responsible,” is the refrain of BJP leaders.

[caption id=“attachment_424725” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The CAG report has provided fresh ammunition to the opposition to corner the government on corruption, after the failure of the Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev fasts to shake the UPA. AFP[/caption]

UPA strategists have worked hard over the extended weekend to focus their counter-strategy on two points - that the practice of giving coal mines to private players had been a legacy of the NDA, and that the members in the screening committee that allotted the blocks included representatives from the states concerned. Most mineral-rich states are ruled by the BJP and other non-Congress governments.

But whether this counter-attack is enough to protect the PM from criticism is another matter. While the previous policy enabled allocation of captive mines for power generation, the scope of coal usage has kept expanding, and the Prime Minister has this time been seen as delaying the process of transparent allocations through competitive bidding.

The Opposition is in no mood to let the issue go easily. While the Assam issue has become a huge humanitarian and governance issue, the BJP has decided to keep the focus on Coalgate. While technically the CAG report is not discussed in Parliament on presentation (it comes to the house only after the Public Accounts Committee examines it, the BJP is citing the example of the coffin scandal during NDA rule when the Congress had stalled parliament accusing then Defence Minister George Fernandes of wrongdoing over a CAG report.

The CAG report has provided fresh ammunition to the opposition to corner the government on corruption, after the failure of the Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev fasts to shake the UPA.

A lot depends on how the PM defends himself.