Taking a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party for asking Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to follow the example of A Raja who quit after facing graft charges and resign, Law Minister Salman Khurshid on Thursday said the opposition party should also follow some precedent and not disrupt Parliament proceedings.
"They (BJP) should also follow some examples of people who come to Parliament and put the case to Parliament. They can't change the rules and they can't lay down the rules," Khurshid told reporters outside Parliament House.
He was reacting to a question on BJP's demand that Singh, who was the coal minister when coal block allocation was made, should quit just like former telecom ministers A Raja and Dayanidhi Maran, who had to resign after their names cropped up in the 2G scam.
Attacking the BJP for disrupting Parliament proceedings, he said, "You have to follow the rules of Parliament and you have to follow the rules in the games of democracy and sadly they (BJP) want to keep changing the rules and shifting the goal post. This is not acceptable."
Khurshid said people are "screaming for Parliament to function and the opposition will not hear" as they are not willing to listen to the truth and "it is absolutely irresponsible...Putting Parliament in peril, putting a question mark on Parliament, putting the reputation of Parliament at stake because you don't want to hear the inconvenient truth."
Parliament has been in turmoil since Tuesday with BJP members demanding resignation of the Prime Minister over CAG's findings on the issue of extension of undue benefits to the tune of Rs 1.86 lakh crore in allocation of coal blocks.
Meanwhile, Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahai slammed the CAG for "over stepping its limit" and wondered if it has the mandate to frame policies.
"Question is whether the chartered accountant (CAG) will decide the policy or the Parliament," he told reporters outside Parliament.
Describing as "unfortunate" the BJP stalling Parliament proceedings, Sahai felt the strategy of the party is to "come to power by any means".
He said "when NDA was in power, they did not agree for any discussion" on issues raised by the Opposition.
Asked if Congress was feeling the absence of party's chief troubleshooter Pranab Mukherjee after his election as the President, Sahai said Pranab had his own unique way in handling issue but the government was "collectively" working in resolving the current impasse.
Noting that non-Congress ruled states had opposed allocation of coal blocks through bidding, LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan said, "These things should be brought before the public through discussions."
He also ridiculed reports that BJP MPs were contemplating to resign en mass, saying, "Resignation clicks sometimes, not always."
NCP leader D P Tripathi BJP's demand for PMs resignation is wrong.
"It is wrong, they should allow Parliament to function," he said.
