United colours of Congress, across ministerial spectrum

An uneasy truce was declared between warring ministers on Thursday. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee distanced himself from a note sent to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) by the finance ministry and other ministries. The note was critical of the stance adopted by Mukherjee’s predecessor and current home minister P Chidambaram in the 2G allocation process.

Mukherjee put the blame on the officers who had drafted the note.

In a brief note read out at North Block in the presence of Chidambaram and a handful of other ministers, Mukherjee on Thursday said: “A number of stories on 2G spectrum had appeared in the media in January 2011. A view was taken that a harmonised note based on facts should be produced for use by various representatives of the government. A group of officers prepared an inter-ministerial background paper, which was sent to the PMO on March 25. Apart from the factual background, the paper contains certain inferences and interpretations which do not reflect my views. The policy of the government in 2007-2008 was a continuation of the policy adopted in October 2003 and as reiterated by Trai.”

At that, Chidambaram said he was happy at his colleague’s clarification and announced the matter was closed.

The late evening statement saw the government presenting a united front, with law minister Salman Khurshid and telecom and HRD minister Kapil Sibal present along with Chidambaram and Mukherjee.

It was the culmination of hectic daylong parleys between senior ministers and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, followed by meetings with Prime minister Manmohan Singh. In fact, the statement was made soon after Mukherjee and Chidambaram had a meeting with Singh at his 7 Race Course residence.

A minister said elements in the PMO virtually browbeat finance ministry officials into including references to the role of the former finance minister. According to some Congress insiders, it is by now known Mukherjee, in his subsequent explanatory letter to the PM, made it clear the note was prepared at the behest of the PMO and the controversial inputs were put forward by the cabinet secretariat and the PMO.

Predictably, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party seized upon the attempts to heal the rift. “We reiterate our demand for a CBI probe against Chidambaram and he should immediately resign from his post. It is not an ego battle between two ministers and no one has given the right to P Chidambaram to accept Pranab Mukherjee’s statement and exonerate himself in the matter. When Pranab Mukherjee says the finance ministry was not responsible for preparing the note, it is true because it was prepared by the department of telecom, finance ministry, law ministry, cabinet secretariat and PMO and it was found if P Chidambaram had  acted, the scam could have been averted,” said Ravi Shankar Prasad, BJP general secretary and spokesperson.

Earlier, Congress president Sonia Gandhi went to Prime Minister Singh’s residence. It was the first meeting between the two since the controversy broke out. The 25-minute meeting, held an hour after Mukherjee’s statement to the media at North block, was described as a “courtesy call”.