PTI reports: The Telugu Desam Party today demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh step down from his post owning moral responsibility for the Rs 1.86 lakh crore coal scam unearthed by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.     

Addressing a press conference in Hyderabad, Telugu Desam Parliamentary Party leader Nama Nageswara Rao also sought an explanation from the prime minister as to whether the scandal took place with or without his knowledge.      "The indiscriminate allocation of coal blocks happened when the Prime Minister himself was holding the coal portfolio. Even the then Union Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayana Rao claims that Prime Minister himself oversaw the allocation process. Hence the Prime Minister should own moral responsibility for the unprecedented loss to the exchequer and step down," Nageswara Rao said.     

The CAG had unearthed massive corruption to the tune of Rs 3.8 lakh crore, including in the coal blocks, development of new Delhi International Airport and concessions for major power projects, the TDPP leader pointed out.