Congress choses to keep fingers crossed till a clear SC verdict

Despite SC rap, Congress-led UPA refused to let opposition rob it of sheen of the electoral victory in Karnataka

Despite having suffered cruel blows at the hands of the Supreme Court in the coal block allocation and CBI matter, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government refused to let the opposition rob it of the sheen of the electoral victory in Karnataka and put off any decision on removing any minister, until it got a full court verdict.

As news of the harsh blows that the court had dealt the government, especially its law officers, became public, the Congress’s exultance was briefly dimmed, especially as a combined opposition demanded not just the resignation of the Law Minister but also of the Prime Minister.

But a top minister explained the situation: “Has the court made any direct observations on the Law Minister? No. Has it said anything about the government’s conduct ? No. its target has been the CBI and it has made sundry other observations. We will deal with those. But no one is resigning right now”.

The government will go through the court’s observations by which time the court will go into recess (May 10). After that, it will await a certified copy of the judgment. Then it will decide what to do.

In the meantime, as part of strategy, the UPA decided to adjourn the Lok Sabha two days ahead of schedule to prevent the opposition from getting a chance to raise the matter on the floor of the House and demand the PM’s resignation.

“This (the court order) is what we had been waiting for. We could not have let the Law Minister step down earlier because then the PM would have been in the direct line of fire. Not only that, Parliament was also in session. Now, the court has done its worst, and it has not named the Law Minister. So we will wait for a full order and see what to do after that”, a minister said.

The government adopted a similarly blasé position on the issue of corruption in the Ministry of Railways. “Pawan (Bansal) is not a man who has appetite for this kind of rough and tumble. He is a decent man who might not have the stamina to ride it out. Let us wait to see what the CBI finds. We will take a view after that, if Bansal doesn’t throw in the towel before that”, the minister said.

The Congress was delighted with its performance in Karnataka and both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Party President Sonia Gandhi congratulated the winners warmly. A team of observers will go to Karnataka ascertain the wishes of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) and will oversee the election of a new CLP leader. Two or three names were in circulation, including those of the leader of the opposition in the erstwhile assembly, Siddaramiah and Union Labour Minister Mallikarjun Kharge.

The only regret in Congress circles was over the unfinished agenda in Parliament – the Land acquisition bill and the Food security Bill. There is no clarity as yet whether these will follow the ordinance route or if the party will wait till the monsoon session to get these passed. But at the close of the working day on May 8, the Congress was satisfied that the people’s court had judged it fairly, even if the Supreme Court had been a shade harsh.