BJP afraid Parliament debate may boomerang: Congress

NEW DELHI: Government tonight hit back at the BJP for defending obstruction in Parliament over CAG report on coal blocks allocation, saying the opposition was running away from discussion as it feared that the debate will boomerang on them.

"During their (NDA) regime one can walk in with the recommendations of the state government and walk out with coal block allocations. UPA changed that through transparent process of ascertaining eligibility of captive blocks for cement steel and power plants," Parliamentary Affairs minister Pawan Kumar Bansal told reporters.

Ridiculing BJP leader Arun Jaitley's contention justifying disruption of Parliament proceedings by terming it as a "rarest of rare cases", Bansal said that from day one of the last Lok Sabha when UPA came to power, obstruction has become the order of the day.

"Obstruction has not been an exception. It has now become a norm. And after making the reckless demand of resignation of the Prime Minister, the BJP did not realise what lay in the matter and that is why they are running away from the discussion." he said.

He also lamented that the main opposition was "totally oblivious" of the role and relevance of Parliament, and were making obstructions when a heavy legislative agenda was before Parliament including some anti-corruption bills.