Actor and Patna Sahib MP Shatrughan Sinha visits the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh in Patna City on Sunday. Picture by Sachin

Actor-turned-BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha on Sunday said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should immediately resign for failing to stem the scam related to allotment of coal blocks.

“The allocation of major coal blocks had taken place when Singh was holding the additional post of coal ministry. Prima facie, the Prime Minister is responsible for the scam and he should resign from the post,” the parliamentarian from Patna Sahib said while addressing a seminar organised by the BJP leader on the coal scam and escalating prices of essential commodities.

“If the Prime Minister is so honest, why did not he abolish the licence to companies allocated coal blocks?” he asked in his first public appearance in the state after undergoing a surgery at a Mumbai hospital on July 16.

Sinha said a CBI probe into the scam was not acceptable to the BJP “because the investigating agency comes under the purview of the Prime Minister’s Office.” He added: “It is not fair to initiate a CBI probe against the PM. But why are they (UPA) afraid of an impartial probe? We challenge them to conduct a thorough probe into the scam and punish the guilty.”

“The Prime Minister knows his fate and it is an outcome of his nervousness. Without consulting his allies, he has decided to increase diesel price and put a cap on the number of LGP cylinders,” the former Union health minister said, adding that the Centre’s decision to allow foreign direct investment to the retail market would adversely affect grocery owners and small-time businessmen.

The MP alleged that the Congress never allowed the BJP to raise the issue in Parliament and accused the Opposition party to disrupt the House proceedings.