Sonia meets chidambaram, Pranab may see PM today

The 10, Janpath residence of Congress party president Sonia Gandhi was the scene of much activity this evening. Home minister P Chidambaram, in the eye of the latest 2G spectrum storm, met her and was followed soon by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee.

The crisis which had enveloped the UPA for the past week seemed to be heading for some settlement, with Gandhi meeting the two sparring ministers only on Mukherjee’s return from the US. While Chidambaram, in his 15-minute interaction with the UPA chairperson is alleged to have offered his resignation, his more senior colleague spent a good 40 minutes with the party head. While the former continued to be tightlipped, Mukherjee reiterated his praise for the home minister on Monday, describing him as a “pillar of strength”.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who’s also been away, is returning tomorrow and further discussions are likely to take place among the four.

According to sources, Chidambaram had placed a request to meet the Congress president a few days before but was given an appointment only on the day that Mukherjee, too, would be in the capital. Meanwhile the Congress continued to officially back Chidambaram, with spokesperson Rashid Alvi stating, “The home minister has committed no crime, he has done no wrong.”

Congress sources believe that keeping Chidambaram as a cabinet minister is becoming increasingly untenable. Yet, the reality that also faces the party is, as one leader put it, “As soon as Chidambaram is axed, it will only be a matter of time before the opposition scalps the prime minister as well.”

After meeting the PM in the US on the subject, Mukherjee had gone on record to state that Chidambaram was a ‘valued colleague’. He dismissed talk of a rift between the two ministers and said he would need to take legal opinion before commenting on the controversial note emanating from his ministry, which at present is before the court.

According to a senior party leader, it also has to factor in the court case. There is a hearing before the Supreme Court tomorrow and the Congress will have to strategise its next step while keeping the legal developments in mind, too.

While reiterating its demand for the resignation of Chidambaram, the Bharatiya Janata Party also demanded an inquiry be conducted against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. “We want criminal investigations against P Chidambaram. The home minister was involved in 2G spectrum allocation with the consent of the Prime Minister and both of them knew exactly what was happening,” said J P Nadda, the party spokesperson.

He said the PM had assured fair investigation of the spectrum allocation scam and it had to be seen if he could fulfill his promise or not.