Chidambaram hits back at BJP

Hitting out at the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) for disruption of Parliament on the coal block allocation issue, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday asked the party why it was not not ready for a debate, daring it to face questions on allocations made during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) rule.

“If the BJP has such a strong case, why don’t they debate the subject in Parliament,” he said, reacting to BJP leader Arun Jaitley's criticism of the government and his assertion that his party was in no mood to allow Parliament to function till its demand for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's resignation was met.

Replying to Jaitley’s criticism of his 'no loss' theory in regard to the coal block allocations, the minister said there is a potential gain when coal is mined and sold.

“Where is the presumptive loss or gain when mining has not taken place,” he countered.