BJP demands PM's resignation

The BJP yesterday demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh must resign in the wake of the allegations that the CBI's report on "Coal-gate" was reviewed by the government before it was submitted to the Supreme Court last month. The party also wants Law Minister Ashwani Kumar to be sacked.
The BJP disrupted Parliament once again yesterday over the coal report allegations. It also gave notices for suspension of Question Hour in both Houses.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi rebuffed the BJP's demand for Manmohan Singh's resignation.
A newspaper report said earlier this month the CBI report submitted last month had been vetted by Kumar and officials in the prime minister's Office. During a meeting with Kumar and CBI officials, several amendments in the report were suggested and some also incorporated, it said.
India's official auditor had last year revealed that the lack of transparency in the allocation of coal blocks to private players resulted in the loss of a whopping Rs.1.85 lakh crore ($37 billion) to the exchequer as on March 11, 2011.
The report does not directly indict the prime minister or his office, but during the time these mining blocks were allotted, the coal portfolio was held by prime minister Manmohan Singh.