BJP urges Mamata to quit UPA

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday once again sought the support of Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on the alleged coalgate scam and urged her to quit the United Progressive Alliance as she has a 'clear image'.

 "Mamataji's clear image which is known in the country does not match the corrupt image of the Congress. The UPA ship will sink in 2014," BJP spokesperson Syed Shahnawaz Hussain told a press conference in Kolkata.

"We urge the UPA ally to quit as the corruption tainted image of the Congress will also have an adverse impact on it. We urge Mamata Banerjee who talks of politics free from corruption, to rid the country of this government," Hussain said.

Asked whether there was possibility of BJP having an electoral adjustment with Trinamool Congress, a former ally, in the 2014 Lok Sabha poll, he said "The election is far away. In West Bengal our party is trying to stand on its own strength."

Referring to the recent dharna by the Samajwadi Party and the Left parties outside parliament, the BJP leader claimed that neither party was serious in their protest as both were behind the government to ensure its survival.

He said that while Mulayam Singh Yadav's party was an ally of the UPA government, the Communist Party of India-Marxist was acting as the B-team of the Congress in Delhi, while the Congress was cited as the B team of the CPI-M in West Bengal.

Hussain alleged that by raising the bogey of secularism, "the CPI-M can enter into any deal with the ruling party to show the BJP in bad light." 

Stating that that BJP would continue to stall Parliament till the prime minister resigned, Hussain said the BJP was prepared to take its fight to a 'decisive stage', but did not elaborate.

"Our protest both inside and outside Parliament will continue. The prime minister has said that the people have given the UPA the mandate to rule the country till 2014. It is true that the people have given such a mandate, but the people have not given it the right to loot the country's resources," he said.

He claimed that it was the Congress that was responsible for the continued stalling of parliament because of its 'adamant attitude' in not accepting the BJP's demand.

"We also demand the cancellation of the allocation of coal blocks during UPA rule. We are not budging from our stand. The Prime Minister should take the responsibility."

The BJP leader said that when there was allegation of corruption in allotment of petrol pumps to BJP functionaries, the then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had got the allotments cancelled.

The BJP leader said "When the government allocated coal blocks, Coal India had demanded 138 blocks. But they were not allocated even a single block."

Without naming Union Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahai who is embroiled in a controversy over allocation of a coal block in Jharkhand, Hussain said "a coal block was even allocated to a private company where the brother of a minister is involved."

Condemning Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh's comments against CAG Vinod Rai, the BJP leader alleged that the ruling party was attacking constitutional institutions when it was not suiting the party.