The Samajwadi Party Thursday joined hands with the Left Front and Telugu Desam Party to demand judicial probe into the coal block allocation scandal.

The three parties which have a combined strength of 52 in the 545-member Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) have also announced to demonstrate outside the Parliament House Friday demanding that Parliament should be allowed to function normally.

Their demand has put the ruling Congress party in a bind as it has taken a stand that no wrong was committed in allocation of 142 coal blocks. TheSamajwadi Party supports the ruling coalition from outside.

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said that “Our party along with CPI, CPI(M) and TDP today decided to stage a sit in protest in front of Parliament tomorrow to demand an inquiry into the coal block allocation scam by a sitting Supreme Court judge.”

Mr Yadav added that “A scam has occurred in coal block allocation. There should be a probe and the guilty should be punished.”

The emerging political bloc is in touch with several other parties to put pressure on both the government and the principal opposition Bharatiya Janata Party to ensure smooth functioning of Parliament which remained paralysed for the seventh consecutive day Thursday. They may also get support of at least two close allies of the BJP, namely Janata Dal (Untied) and Shiromani Akali Dal which favour debate on the coal scam while BJP continues to insist on resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and cancellation of all coal block allotments.

The government has indicated that it is willing to consider cancellation. Reports suggest the Coal Ministry has short-listed 50 such coal blocks which were allocated to private companies where mining has not yet started.

Source - gulfnews.com

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