Firm on his words, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made it clear that he would not abnegate his post of the Honorable Prime Minister since it was the people who chose him and that he respected their verdict. He said there was not even the slightest chance that he would resign over the coal block allocation affair. "If I were resigning, I would not be here," he said on his plane back from Tehran, indicating that he had just represented the nation as the PM at the Non Aligned Movement summit, NAM Summit 2012. The PM said he will not respond to the BJP's demand for his resignation. He would not take cognizance of the acerbic criticism on the allocation of coal blocks according to the CAG report from the government auditor.

"I have to maintain the dignity of the office of the Prime Minister," he said, adding that "we have been elected by the people of India...I hope the BJP will respect verdict of the people", he said.

The national auditor had mentioned in his reports that there were several thousands of crores that were lost as the coal was sold at prices much lower than the market value. BJP alleges that PM was aware of such a scam but had not reacted and hence he should leave the position for being incapable. They had stalled the parliament sessions seven days in a row. It still vows that BJP would not allow the House to function till the PM resigns.

Reacting to PM's statement BJP member Balbir Punj said, "The buck stops at the PM's table," He was mentioning Dr Manmohan Singh after he criticised BJP and their strategy in the Parliament. He added, "If you are going to stonewall all queries, that means you have very little respect for the people of the country".

(AW- Anil)