Karnataka glow buffers Cong from apex court rap

Despite being hit hard today by the Supreme Court in the coal block allocation controversy, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government refused to let the Opposition rob it of the sheen of the electoral victory in Karnataka. And, put off a decision on removing any minister until it got a full court verdict.

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

Referring to the SC's various raps concerning the way the Central Bureau of Investigation was being allowed to operate, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Venkaiah Naidu said: "We can infer that the case is diluted, the investigative team is truncated; more importantly, the heart of report has been changed."

The Left parties said the government must explain how the 'heart' of the coal block enquiry was changed as the SC had observed. They sought the law minister's resignation.

But a top minister replied: "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 (Friday). After that, it will await a certified copy of the judgment. Then it will decide what to do.

Meantime, as part of a strategy, the UPA decided to adjourn Parliament two days ahead of schedule, to prevent the opposition from getting a chance to raise the matter on the floor of the Houses 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 minister. So, we will wait for a full order and see what to do," a minister said.

The government adopted a similarly blase position on the issue of corruption in the ministry of railways. "Pawan (Bansal, the minister) 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 one regret in Congress circles was over the unfinished agenda in Parliament - the land acquisition Bill and the food security Bill.

The Congress was delighted with its performance in Karnataka and both PM Manmohan Singh and party president Sonia Gandhi warmly congratulated the winners.

A team of observers will go to Karnataka and ascertain the wishes of the Congress Legislature Party, overseeing the formal election of a new 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 one regret in Congress circles was over the unfinished agenda in Parliament - the land acquisition Bill and the food security Bill. There is no clarity yet on whether these will follow the ordinance route or if the party will wait till the monsoon session of Parliament to get these passed. But at the close of the day, the party was satisfied that the people's court had judged it fairly, even if the SC had been a shade harsh.