Launching a scathing attack on Congress over the coal controversy, JD-U today demanded immediate resignation of Union Ministers Sriprakash Jaiswal and Subodh Kant Sahai from the Cabinet and suspension of the ruling party MPs Naveen Jindal and Vijay Darda.

In the backdrop of the surfacing of letters by some BJP Chief Ministers seeking continuance of the the existing coal block allocation policy, JD-U President Sharad Yadav urged all parties to seek explanation from state heads.

"While I appeal to Congress President Sonia Gandhi to immediately suspend MPs like Jindal and Darda and direct Jaiswal and Sahai to resign from their ministries on moral grounds, I also want tell other parties that they should take action against all those who are facing similar allegations," Yadav said.

He wondered "why Chief Ministers recommend for giving coal blocks to such persons. All this is being done in the name of the interest of the state. It is the responsibilities of the parties concerned to ask them about it".

Asked about the irregularities highlighted by the CAG in the allotment of a coal block by the Chhattisgarh government to a company owned by the BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Ajay Sancheti, a close aide of BJP president Nitin Gadkari, Yadav merely said, "What I said incorporates everything".

He said that it was unfortunate that instead of resigning on moral grounds after the allegations surfaced, the ministers are talking about the legal process. He also demanded the suspension of RJD leader Prem Chand Gupta over the allocations of coal block to his sons when Gupta was Corporate Affairs Minister in UPA 1 government.

"It is unfortunate that Congress has also come to this low. It was the same Congress during the Prime Ministership of Jawaharlal Nehru that two ministers Keshav Dev Malviya and T T Krishnamachari (the then Finance Minister) had resigned on basis of mere allegations," Yadav said.

He also cited the Hawala case saying that he himself and senior BJP leader L K Advani had resigned from their posts after the allegations were levelled.

In a statement, Yadav alleged that Jindal was a "major beneficiary" of the coal blocks allocated by the government to private sector and demanded that the government should "de-allocate the coal blocks allotted to him.

"The government had violated all parameters to allocate coal to Jindal in Orissa.... It is really surprising while in the case of Jindal Steel and Power, even no presentation was given to the Screening Committee for screening proposals received for captive mining by private power generation companies.

"It shows the inclination of the Government towards selected companies in the private sector.... Some corporate Houses looted the country's revenue behind the curtain as has been going on since many years, the revelations of which have come in public domain recently," Yadav claimed.

He said the coal blocks allotted to Jindal's company should be de-allocated and should be allotted afresh through competitive bidding so that the country should know the actual price for these coal blocks.

Jindal, however, denied that his company was allotted a coal block in violation of government norms. On the alleged delay in the mining, the Congress MP said, "We were not squatting on the coal blocks. Mining is a tough business to start."

Yadav demanded that the government should formulate a national policy for natural resources of the country.

At the AICC briefing, party spokesman Manish Tewari insisted that Jindal had got the coal block not during the UPA tenure but during the NDA rule in 1998.

The Odisha Chief Minister had recommended that the block should be given to Jindal's company, he said adding, if there is any lapse then it is by the NDA government.