Don't lecture us on 'corruption', Congress tells BJP

New Delhi: Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath on Monday told the BJP not to "lecture" the Congress on corruption and said Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and Law Minister Ashwani Kumar would not resign. "There is no question of their resignation. Did Nitin Gadkari resign as president of the BJP? The BJP should not give us lectures on such matters. Our government knows what is to be done and if there is any indictment, we will certainly take action," Nath said.

"As far as the Law Minister is concerned, the Supreme Court will be hearing the case day after tomorrow (Wednesday), they have already filed affidavit," he said.

The Law Minister has been charged with interfering in a CBI report on the allocation of coal blocks. "As far as the railway minister is concerned, if something emerges during investigation, the Congress will take steps," the minister told a TV news channel here.

Bansal's nephew Vijay Singla was arrested last week by the CBI for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 90 lakh. Bansal had issued a statement distancing himself from the incident involving his nephew.

Nath also slammed the BJP for being corrupt. "The BJP should not talk about corruption. On Wednesday we will see the Karnataka election result. The people would have decided who is corrupt. The BJP will have no face, no answer after that," he said.

The minister also said that all efforts would be made to pass the Food Bill. "The Food Bill is an important and historic bill since Independence. The BJP wants to obstruct this because they feel that the Congress and the government will get credit for it," the minister said.

"We understand parliamentary principles. We don't need lectures or (anyone) to preach what is parliamentary procedure. Parliament is for every political party. This is not a BJP house, it is a house of every MP who has been elected," he added.

The UPA government on Monday tried to debate and pass the National Food Security Bill but could not as the opposition continued to disrupt the house over the coal blocks issue.