Cong backs PC, to keep lid on emotions till PM returns

A day after a finance ministry note on 2G spectrum allocation to the Prime Minister’s Office came out in the open, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reportedly asked home minister P Chidambaram “to be patient”.

During a 20-minute call from Frankfurt, where the PM made an overnight halt on his way to New York to attend a United Nations General Assembly meeting, Singh discussed the issue with Chidambaram. Quoting sources, news agency PTI said the PM was believed to have counselled Chidambaram “to be patient” till he returned from New York on September 27.

Later, talking to reporters on the flight to New York, the PM said there was no infighting in the cabinet and Chidambaram enjoyed his full confidence. Asked about the controversial note, he said, “I don’t know what note you are talking about. The whole 2G matter is before the court. I don’t want to comment on a matter that is sub judice. As far as Mr P Chidambaram is concerned, as finance minister, he had enjoyed my full confidence and as home minister he continues to enjoy and inspire my full confidence.”

The Congress party backed Chidambaram even as Opposition parties and UPA allies such as the DMK blamed him for the alleged spectrum allocation scam. The NDA asked the PM to remove Chidambaram from the cabinet.

The note said Chidambaram, as the finance minister in 2007-08, did not press for the auction of 2G spectrum.

Both Mukherjee and Chidambaram refused to directly answer any questions on the issue. Mukherjee said he could not comment as the matter was “sub judice”. “The whole matter is under the scrutiny of the Supreme Court. We cannot make any comment on any matter that is sub judice,” he said in New York, where he was for an India-US investors’ forum. Chidambaram, who was touring quake-hit areas in Sikkim, refused to field questions on the issue.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi told reporters a “mischievous attempt” was being made to create a rift between different constitutional functionaries.

“Without waiting for the proceedings to be completed, it is highly objectionable and inappropriate for Swamy or anyone else to pass premature judgment on the very same issue on which he is seeking relief,” Singhvi said.

Law minister Salman Khurshid said there was nothing in the correspondence to raise doubts over Chidambaram’s integrity. “I have now seen the paper and I want to make it very clear that as far as we are concerned in the government, there is no question mark whatsoever... Nothing of questionable nature on the conduct of Chidambaram... I can say this with full authority,” Khurshid said. The DMK, UPA’s second-largest alliance partner, said the finance ministry’s note ‘vindicated’ the stand of former telecom minister A Raja. DMK spokesperson T K Elangovan said, “The crux of the entire case is that Raja violated all advice by the PM and the finance ministry. The letter says the then finance minister had agreed to the fixed price, non-auction rule. This vindicates Raja’s stand.”

The BJP demanded Chidambaram’s resignation and said it was “shameful” he misled the Prime Minister. “The finance ministry officials were telling the then minister P Chidambaram to go for auctions. Why was it not done?” said BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi.