Manmohan Singh no less than A Raja: Arun Jailtey on coal block allocations

New Delhi, August 24: There were no signs of an end to the deadlock in Parliament with BJP indicating further escalation of the confrontation over the CAG report on the coal block allocation issue in the remaining part of the monsoon session.

Opposition BJP hasn't allowed the Parliament to function for the last three days demanding the Prime Minister's resignation over the issue. Their argument is if former Telecom Minister A Raja had to step down for his alleged role in the 2G scam, the same logic should apply to the Prime Minister.

"We want to compel this government, push it to a corner as the accountability standards for the Prime minister are higher than what they were for A Raja,” Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said.

Speaking to CNN-IBN, Jaitley said, "This government has used the corrupt, those being prosecuted under prevention of corruption act by misusing investigative agencies to manipulate the political class of this country."

Meanwhile, UPA II's reform agenda has been pushed to a corner. Almost 100 bills are waiting for an approval by the Parliament and the government's efforts seem to be losing steam as it tries to work against a deadline of the 2014 elections.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday decided to take the charge asking her MPs to go on the offensive on the issue. The usually calm Congress president told her MPs: "We don't need to be defensive. It is wrong. We must attack. They cannot take people for granted."

However, amidst the tough stance taken by both the sides, for the first time in three days on Thursday, there were attempts to break the ice as the presiding officers of both the Houses called the leaders for a meeting.

Though the BJP did not attend the meeting, it conveyed its willingness to come to the talking table on Monday.

Also, from the government, Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde met Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj.

The government, however, maintained that it did not visualise the deadlock ending before next week. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said talks to end the stalemate were not possible before Monday. He said the week is likely to be lost due to disruption. "I am told that tomorrow also the Houses will not function," he said.