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Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley on Wednesday demanded the Prime Minister's resignation over the Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) report on coal block allocations, and said the ongoing standoff that has paralyzed the parliamentary proceedings can be brought to an end if Dr. Manmohan Singh takes moral responsibility and acts accordingly. Jaitley said the BJP is firm on the Prime Minister's resignation for he held direct charge of the Coal Ministry for three of the years under scrutiny. "The fundamental difference between the 2G spectrum allocation scam and the coal block allocations. In 2G, the Prime Minister was indirectly and vicariously liable; in this case five out of the eight years he himself was the Coal Minister. And such a huge and momentous loss has been caused to the government, there is no way he can escape the responsibility in this matter. Therefore, the BJP is firm on his resignation," said Jaitley. "The deadlock can be absolutely broken in a minute if the Prime Minister takes the moral responsibility and acts accordingly," he added, when asked what would be his initiative as an opposition leader to break the logjam in Parliament. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal earlier in the day condemned the BJP's move to disrupt parliamentary proceedings over the CAG report on coal block allocations, saying the allegations levelled against the government are absolutely baseless and incorrect. "It is extremely unfortunate that the BJP is contemplating over not allowing the Parliament to function. We have repeatedly told then that we are ready for discussion on any issue. Earlier, they used to say that the government is not ready for discussion, but now we have said that we are ready for discussion," Bansal told mediapersons outside the Parliament here. "The allegations they are levelling against us is completely baseless, there is no truth and logic in it," he added. The BJP has held the Prime Minister, who then held direct charge of the Coal Ministry, responsible for what has been estimated as loss of Rs 1.86 lakh crores by the CAG in coal block allocation and demanded his resignation. The CAG report on coal block allocation states that nearly 150 coalfields were allotted to private and state-run firms without transparency and objectivity between 2005 and 2009. The report does not indict the Prime Minister or his office. But the BJP is emphasizing on the fact that for three of the years under scrutiny, the Prime Minister held the coal portfolio.

Arun Jaitley firm on PM's resignation over coal block allocations