Coal scandal blackens India's government
NEW DELHI (AP) — Angry opposition lawmakers have shouted and crowded aisles in India's parliament to demand the prime minister resign after a national auditor's report said the government lost huge sums of money by selling coal fields to private companies without competitive bidding.
Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party lawmakers and other opposition leaders are targeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh because he was running the coal ministry during the 2004 sale.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal said Tuesday Singh wasn't going to resign and offered to discuss the auditor's report in parliament. The two houses were adjourned for the day after the opposition blocked proceedings.
The auditor's report exonerated Singh, but it estimated that private companies got a windfall profit of $34 billion because of the low prices they paid for the coal fields.
