Congress should accept coal block responsibility: Naidu

Not just an individual but the Congress party should take the responsibility for the coal block allocation case, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said on Thursday after being asked about former prime minister Manmohan Singh who has been accused in the case.

"It is not the question of questioning the integrity of Manmohan Singh ji. It is the question of responsibility and failure of not taking action," Naidu told reporters.

"Manmohan Singh...will give his version but at the same time the Congress needs to explain to the country how these things have happened. It should take the responsibility (of the coal block allocation case) and not just an individual alone," he said.

A special court here on Wednesday summoned Manmohan Singh, industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and former coal secretary P.C. Parakh in a coal block allocation case, terming it a "criminal conspiracy" with the objective to "do an illegal act".

Congress president Sonia Gandhi and other party leaders on Thursday led a solidarity march from the party headquarter here to Manmohan Singh's residence.

Development of North Eastern Region Minister Jitendra Singh said: "I would simply say...all of us should have the courage to accept the verdict in course of law. The world knows that India has one of the best constitutions and anything contradicting to it would amount to disrespect to the legal system."