Advani terms PM's defence 'deeply disappointing'

BJP leader LK Advani yesterday termed as "deeply disappointing" prime minister Manmohan Singh's statement on coal allocation and said the defence mounted by the government on the issue were in a piece with reasons given by Congress at the time of imposing Emergency.

Saying that he was deeply disappointed by the statement of the prime minister in a reply to a question on Singh rebutting all charges in alleged coal block allocation scam, he said that during the emergency, the then prime minister of  the ruling party had said they had to impose it due to judiciary and state of democracy.

He said this was the same thing when the PM blames federalism, (opposition-ruled states had opposed competitive bidding of coal blocks), the law ministry, and attacks constitutional bodies like CAG.

PTI reported that Advani who was in Gandhinagar to attend a function said, "Today I recollect that one of the speakers of Lok Sabha had said that to attack CAG is to attack a constitutional body. And now when the prime minister himself is doing it, this is very surprising."

"Supreme Court has said one of the salient features of the Constitution is federalism and he is blaming federalism for corruption," the former deputy prime minister said.

"Prime Minister's action of blaming the law ministry is also disappointing. The ministry had done the right thing by saying that coal blocks should be given by auction. The ministry's suggestion of 2004 has been brought to the fore in 2012 by the CAG report," Advani said.