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| Patil quits, Chidambaram to be home minister |
| BS Reporter / New Delhi Dec 01, 2008, 00:41 IST |
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PM to hold finance portfolio for now; pressure for action on Pakistan.
 The terror attacks on Mumbai last week claimed their first political casualty with Home Minister Shivraj Patil resigning. He is being replaced by Finance Minister P Chidambaram.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to handle the finance portfolio for the moment, adding to the three others he already holds: coal, environment and forests and information and broadcasting.
These decisions were taken after a 45-minute meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) late Saturday evening. Meanwhile, National Security Advisor (NSA) M K Narayanan also offered to step down but his resignation was not accepted. The Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chiefs are, however, likely to be replaced, though they retire on December 31 and January 31, respectively. The RAW chief may be asked to go on leave before retirement. (Meanwhile, PTI adds that speculation raged over the fate of Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh in the wake of Mumbai terror attacks. Deshmukh was also criticised at the CWC meeting but there was no official word whether the high command had any plans of leadership change in Maharashtra).
On Saturday, Chidambaram was attending a meeting in Madurai and he was asked to rush back for the meeting of the 41-member CWC although he is not a member of this body. He stayed on after the CWC with the party’s core committee, the highest decision-making body in the Congress, suggesting he will be coopted to both these bodies now.
When the CWC meeting began at 7 pm with Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s opening speech, it was open season for attacks on Shivraj Patil. “The time for passing condolence messages and resolutions is gone. The people are angry. Action is required,” Gandhi reportedly said.
PM offers to resign: In his speech the prime minister offered to resign as captain of his team. This was shouted down by others.
When Patil offered to resign, however, no one tried to dissuade him. Patil said he was ready to quit any time, if the party thought it was his responsibility, but the people had to understand that the NDA regime saw many more terror assaults.
Patil went on to say a raft of measures was being put in place to ensure there was no repetition of the Mumbai incident. Police stations were being beefed up, a state level National Security Guard was being raised, intelligence gathering was being modernised, a federal crimes agency was being set up, ports were going to be equipped with transponders.
Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said the time for installing transponders had gone. Chidambaram and Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal said there was need for political accountability. “Some heads must roll,” one of them said.
Some members also criticised the role of the Navy and the handling of coastal security, at which Defence Minister AK Antony took umbrage and offered to resign too. His resignation, however, was turned down by the CWC.
Dissension over Pakistan: Several CWC members talked about the “bullet for bullet” theme in relation to Pakistan including Rahul Gandhi who said Pakistan must be made to pay the price. “It seems anyone can come and slap us on our face and we can do nothing about it,” he said.
All these members referred to Manmohan Singh’s statement in his address to the nation on November 27 that India will impose “costs” on the culprits.
It was this that caused Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee to explode with rage. He said if action was taken against Pakistan, which is what the militants and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency wanted, it would create conditions for foreign powers to interfere in Kashmir. “Once these powers are here, you will not be able to get them out again,” he told CWC members, who heard him out in silence.
Mukherjee’s stand was strongly endorsed by the prime minister who said the map of the world would be rewritten and an era of neo-colonialism would return if India acted against Pakistan.
High drama: After facing a full frontal attack from many CWC members including Karan Singh who said bluntly that it was time for the home minister to resign, Patil scribbled something on a piece of paper and handed it to the Singh. Then he turned to Mrs Gandhi and said: “I think I also need to give this to you,” expecting her to intercede. Gandhi reportedly looked stone-faced and did not comment.
At the meeting of the core committee soon after the decision to appoint Chidambaram as home minister was taken and endorsed.
Asked why Chidambaram, who was minister of state for internal security in Rajiv Gandhi’s government in the mid-eighties, was chosen for the job, a top CWC member said: “He was the PM’s choice. No other name was discussed.”
There is a chance that Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia might take over as finance minister but this is not immediately likely.
Meanwhile, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s brief statement was also reportedly also discussed and debated at the CWC meeting. “If my grandmother had been alive today she would have made India proud,” Vadra told a daily after casting her vote for the Delhi Assembly elections. The statement was considered a clear criticism of the prime minister.
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