New Delhi, April 28
The BJP-led Opposition threat of agitation provided no comfort to the Manmohan Singh government as the party announced a two-day dharna this weekend across state capitals against the “massive corruption and its cover up” and promised to continue raising it in Parliament and with the people.

Identifying a host of issues, including handling of border development with China to the list on which it seeks to pillory the Congress-led UPA government, the BJP said the first step of accountability demands that the government should withdraw the JPC draft report in 2G Spectrum allocation, and the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Law Minister Ashwani Kumar should resign.

With the PM having rejected the demand of resignation of the Law Minister, the effort of parliamentary managers of the UPA would be to salvage the remainder of the Budget session that concludes on May 10 and ensure passage of the Rail Budget and the Finance Bill.

Starting tomorrow, the Lok Sabha is scheduled to first take up the Rail Budget, followed by discussion on demands for grants for the ministries of coal, agriculture, textiles and new and renewable energy. The Finance Bill is to be taken up next week.

While an agreement between the government and the Opposition for the transaction of financial business is expected, the UPA’s plans to get parliamentary nod for two of its favourite legislations-on land acquisition and food security-could run into trouble.

Proceedings in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha have remained disrupted ever since Parliament resumed sittings on April 22 over various issues, including the JPC draft report on 2G with parties in the Opposition closing ranks to target its Chairman PC Chacko as also criticising the government for “interfering” in the working of the Central Bureau of Investigation by perusing the coal block allocation case report the agency was to file in the Supreme Court.

“The Prime Minister, instead of coming clean on why his minister and officers vetted the CBI investigation report, is offering absurd logic. He says the world is laughing at us because Parliament is not functioning. The Prime Minister must see the reality that the world is laughing at us because of the loot and plunder of the country by the UPA government and its unacceptable ways of covering it up,” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.

While announcing dharnas in state capitals on May 4 and 5 to be addressed by its leaders, he justified the protest in Parliament as being against the government attitude and scams. “This is fight against corruption and it is fight against cover-up. Democracy is being destroyed ...the Prime Minister is rejecting the demand of his and Law Minister’s resignation as he wants to use the Law Minister as a human shield,” Javadekar said. With incursion by China and acknowledgement that their troops are stationed 19 km inside the Indian side of the Line of Control, the BJP accused the government with “complete abdication of duty”.