Congress made no money from coal blocks allocations: Kapil Sibal

New Delhi: Union Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal has claimed that no Congress minister benefitted from the coal blocks allocations. Speaking to Karan Thapar on Devil's Advocate, Sibal strongly rallied behind the Prime Minister, saying that there was no question of him resigning.

Following are the excerpts from Karan Thapar's interview with Kapil Sibal:

Karan Thapar: How do you account for the fact that something that's believed to be in the national interest, which the Prime Minister wants to do, doesn't happen for eight years. Does it not show him to be weak?

Kapil Sibal: What you believe in national interest is done with consultation in a federal polity when everybody is on board, when we don't have a majority.

Karan Thapar: This is not a sign of weakness on the part of the Prime Minister?

Kapil Sibal: Not at all weakness. It is a sign of a dysfunctional Parliament with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) only interested in coming to power and not interested in passing legislation for the good of the country.

Karan Thapar: They say the allocation that happened between 2004 and 2012 or 2009 when the government was in fact said to be prevaricating over the auction or done in a hurry to circumvent the auction and conveniently they say the auction was being delayed as well. Money was made.

Kapil Sibal: These are the allegations of the BJP, they are preposterous to say the least. They are irresponsible. The BJP has been trying very hard to somehow destabilise the polity of this country.

Karan Thapar: The Congress made no money?

Kapil Sibal: Congress been made no money. No money. No Congress minister made any money. You please give me any evidence, an iota of evidence and we will take action. Don't make allegations like this.

Congress ready to relook at some coal allotments: Sources

The Congress sources on Friday said that the Government is likely to give a relook into some coal blocks' allotments. It could also offer to let a judicial probe be conducted into the alleged coal scam. An indication to this effect was made after the Congress Core Group met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party president Sonia Gandhi to discuss their strategy to break the deadlock in Parliament over the coal block allocation issue. The party has, however, not softened its stand against the CAG report on the coal blocks allocation.

It was also indicated in the meeting that Sonia Gandhi will have an interaction with constituents of the ruling alliance and outside supporters. The Opposition has been stalling Parliament over the CAG report demanding scrapping of coal blocks.

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