War over coalgate: PM vs CAG and PM vs BJP

New Delhi: The offensive by the government over the CAG report on the coal blocks allocation was on Monday led from the front by Prime Minister Manmohan, who made a statement in Parliament calling the report disputable.

He also claimed that the policy of allocation existed since 1993 and was followed by the earlier governments, adding that the UPA had introduced the auction idea in 2004.

The Prime Minister also hit out at the main Opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), for disrupting Parliament. Reacting to the attack by the Prime Minister, the BJP termed his statement as an excuse.

Here are the points of differences between the Prime Minister and CAG report:

CAG vs Prime Minister:

CAG: Coal blocks allocation policy not transparent.

Prime Minister: Allocation policy existed since 1993. The UPA introduced auction idea in 2004.

CAG: Competitive bidding could have been introduced in 2006.

Prime Minister: Circumventing legislative process through administrative instructions undemocratic.

CAG: Delay in auctions helped private coal companies make windfall gains.

Prime Minister: Coal India price comparison misleading; cannot get things done by decree.

CAG: Private coal companies did not achieve production targets.

Prime Minister: Allocation of defaulters to be cancelled; CBI probing malpractices.

Points of differences between the Prime Minister and the BJP:

Prime Minister: Allocation policy existed since 1993. UPA introduced auction idea in 2004.

BJP: PMO first sabotaged competitive bidding policy in 2004.

Prime Minister: Circumventing legislative process through administrative instructions undemocratic.

BJP: PMO delayed competitive bidding for eight years to help private companies.

Prime Minister: Coal India price comparison misleading; cannot get things done by fiat.

BJP: UPA abused discretionary powers to allocate natural resources.

Prime Minister: Allocation of defaulters to be cancelled; CBI probing malpractices.

BJP: Profit from coal allocation has gone into Congress coffers.

Prime Minister: Opposition ruled states opposed competitive bidding.

BJP: States not consulted many times; not proper to blames states.

Prime Minister: No question of cancelling coal allocations.

BJP: Cancel allocation of all 142 coal blocks; order sit probe.