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Commenting over the behaviour of the opposition for repeatedly adjourning parliamentary sessions over a demand for the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over 'Coalgate', Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar termed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) an outfit of 'goons' and 'jokers'. "The prolonged stance of the opposition for repeatedly adjourning the parliamentary sessions for resignation of Prime Minister over 'Coalgate' scam is most irrational that deserves the BJP as an outfit of 'goons' and 'jokers,' Aiyar said. "Our Prime Minister has been forced to place his statement on the table of the House because these goons, and I am calling them goons advisedly are refusing to allow parliamentary function. Let them get out if they want but they cannot go on stopping session after session this country from functioning, they have demanded our country in the eyes of every other democracy in the country, in the world and I think it is time the presiding officers decided to take matters in hand and allow our democracy to function whether these BJP jokers are in their or not," he added. Aiyar further advised them (BJP leaders) to stay out of the parliament and let it faction, if not interested in debating the coal issue in the parliament. He also viewed media to be an inappropriate platform to discuss the coal issue. "I don't think a proper place to discuss a CAG report is the media. It should be discussed in parliament. Why are these guilty BJP people not discussing it in the parliament? I want them to stand in the dock. All these culprits are from BJP and the party itself. So that is why they don't have courage to discuss the issue openly, BJP yap and yap openly in public but don't allow to let us speak in the parliament made to save our country, what right do they have to stop us to discuss the issue in the parliament," said Aiyar. The 'Coalgate' has paralysed parliament after the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said that the under-priced sales of coalfields would have cost the national exchequer as much as 33 billion dollars in lost revenues. The BJP is demanding the resignation of Dr. Singh since he headed the Coal Ministry between 2006 and 2009, when many of the sales occurred. However, Dr. Singh had rejected the CAG's observations as 'misleading' and 'flawed', and blamed the opposition parties for thwarting the efforts of his government to bring a policy of competitive bidding. Dr. Singh also ruled out any possibility of quitting the top post despite the BJP firm on its demand for his resignation over the coal blocks allocation issue. Interaction with mediapersons onboard the special plane while returning to New Delhi from Tehran after attending the 16th NAM summit, Dr. Singh said that he can't get into a war of words with political leaders, and added that he has to maintain the dignity of the office of the Prime Minister.

Parliament deadlock: Aiyar calls BJP a party of goons