Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal on Wednesday accused the Opposition-ruled Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Orissa of blocking the smooth implementation of the competitive bidding process, initiated by the Centre in 2004.

At a press conference here, he said the competitive bidding process for coal blocks allocation could not be implemented due to stiff opposition from coal-rich Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Orissa and West Bengal when it was ruled by the Left Front government. Hence it was wrong to blame Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue.