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NEW DELHI: Congress President Sonia Gandhi launched a blistering attack on BJP, accusing the main Opposition of blackmail and setting the stage for an extended political impasse that has already stalled Parliament for the past week.
With BJP relentless in its demand that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh resign over irregularities in coal block allocations, as alleged by the national auditor in a recent report, the Congress chief and chairperson of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance exhorted her party members to "stand up and fight aggressively".A day after the prime minister gave a detailed statement on coal block allocations, which have resulted in potential gains of Rs 1.86 lakh crore to private companies according to CAG estimates, Gandhi directed her party members to flag the government's achievements.
"We are now entering a period in which elections will consume much of our time. We have many achievements. We have nothing to feel defensive about," the Congress president said, in a speech clearly aimed at rallying of her troops ahead of crucial elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
Bolstered by his party chief's stance, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal said the government would be forced to get a few Bills passed even amid the bedlam gripping Parliament.
'BJP INDULGING IN FALSE PROPAGANDA'
Bills such as the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (Amendment) Bill, 2012, which replaces a recent ordinance that allowed six AIIMS-like institutes to become operational from September, 2012, would have to be passed despite disruption, he said.
"Classes have to begin in these institutes from September15. So we will have to pass the Bill," he said, terming the Opposition's attitude "nothing short of fascism".
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