NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to hold a meeting of ministers on Thursday evening to defuse the crisis arising out of the controversial finance ministry note on 2G spectrum.
"The meeting will be held after the Prime Minister returns from his Sikkim visit," sources said.
Union ministers Pawan Kumar Bansal and V Narayanasamy met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee late Wednesday.
Congress sources said the meeting discussed ways to end the controversy that has given rise to speculation about differences between Mukherjee and Home Minister P. Chidambaram on the 2G spectrum allocation.
The meeting came in the backdrop of Mukherjee writing a letter to Manmohan Singh clarifying that the note had been prepared in consultation with other ministries.
A copy of the letter was sent to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
The March 25 note to the Prime Minister's Office from the finance ministry says that the airwaves could have been auctioned in 2008 if Chidambaram, who was then the finance minister, had "stuck to his stand".
Pranab, who is facing heat over the March 25 note, has reportedly explained in the four-page letter, which was given to the Prime Minister during their meeting in New York and later submitted to Sonia, that the ‘note’ was not just of his Ministry but a “comprehensive inter-ministerial background note” prepared on the initiative of the Cabinet Secretariat and had inputs from various Ministries and the PMO.
Meanwhile, Chidambaram, whose resignation is being demanded by the Opposition BJP, met the PM on Wednesday on lunch hosted for former PM of Britain Tony Blair, but refused to make any comment.
Pranab, who had gone to Kolkata, told the media there that he would meet the PM and only then would make any comment on the entire controversy. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, MoS Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla and MoS in PMO V Narayansamy met Pranab at his residence in the Capital late on Wednesday after his return to try to resolve the political crisis. However, they refused to divulge the discussion details.
The PM, who is going to Sikkim on Thursday morning, may meet Sonia and Pranab after his return in the evening to discuss the entire matter, but any decision on the fate of Chidambaram will depend on the Supreme Court’s stand on Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy’s petition demanding probe against the Home Minister in the 2G spectrum scam.
The Government, whose image has been dented by the entire controversy, is trying hard to dismiss the ‘note’ as one prepared by a junior official of the Finance Ministry, but Pranab’s letter has clearly said that the note was prepared after much deliberation among various Ministries, including Law and Telecom.
This has not only made hollow the PM’s claim that there was no dissension within his Government, it will also force the Government to do further explanation on the entire issue as to whether these Ministries, PMO and Cabinet Secretariat had agreed to the Finance Ministry note which was “seen” by Pranab himself.
Earlier, the party sources indicated that Pranab will make a statement or address a Press conference to explain the entire situation and the blame for note will be deflected to the officials of the Finance Ministry, but in the light of the new letter now the situation is not clear. What has further aggravated the situation for the Government is that JPC members are now demanding that Pranab’s letter along with Finance Ministry note should be placed before Parliamentary panel on 2G spectrum scam.
Pranab’s main line of defence is reportedly been that the March 25 note was leaked from the PMO through an RTI and not from Finance Ministry.
According to sources, in his letter Pranab said that since ten different versions were there on the entire controversy it was decided that there should be a consolidated and comprehensive background note prepared harmonising the views of all the Ministries. The Cabinet Secretariat has held a meeting where officials of PMO, DoT, Law and Finance Ministry were present after which the Finance Ministry had prepared the note which was sent to PMO.
The purpose of the controversial note was that the Government should appear to speak in one voice in view of diversions of versions with Chidambaram saying that he favoured auction while PM making a statement in Parliament that both Chidambaram and Raja had come to an understanding about allocation on First-Cum-First-Serve basis.
Though the party refused to comment on Pranab’s letter, Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi defended Chidambaram saying that BJP was trying to mislead the people by demanding his resignation. Dismissing BJP’s charge against Chidambaram as “absolute cacophony”, he contended that the Finance Ministry note on the 2G issue cannot have any effect. He said that CBI cannot probe Chidambaram just because BJP was demanding. However, he seconded Prime Minister’s assessment that the people’s perception about the Government had declined.
Meanwhile, a section of the party is not happy with the manner the Government is conducting its business and complained that the lack of communication between the party and the Government had made their job of defending the Government difficult.
A senior Congress leader, on the condition of anonymity, cited the mishandling of 2G controversy, Anna Hazare and Ramdev issues by the Government and said that most of the time the party is not taken into confidence about the Government decisions and the logic behind the same.
"The meeting will be held after the Prime Minister returns from his Sikkim visit," sources said.
Union ministers Pawan Kumar Bansal and V Narayanasamy met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee late Wednesday.
Congress sources said the meeting discussed ways to end the controversy that has given rise to speculation about differences between Mukherjee and Home Minister P. Chidambaram on the 2G spectrum allocation.
The meeting came in the backdrop of Mukherjee writing a letter to Manmohan Singh clarifying that the note had been prepared in consultation with other ministries.
A copy of the letter was sent to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
The March 25 note to the Prime Minister's Office from the finance ministry says that the airwaves could have been auctioned in 2008 if Chidambaram, who was then the finance minister, had "stuck to his stand".
Pranab, who is facing heat over the March 25 note, has reportedly explained in the four-page letter, which was given to the Prime Minister during their meeting in New York and later submitted to Sonia, that the ‘note’ was not just of his Ministry but a “comprehensive inter-ministerial background note” prepared on the initiative of the Cabinet Secretariat and had inputs from various Ministries and the PMO.
Meanwhile, Chidambaram, whose resignation is being demanded by the Opposition BJP, met the PM on Wednesday on lunch hosted for former PM of Britain Tony Blair, but refused to make any comment.
Pranab, who had gone to Kolkata, told the media there that he would meet the PM and only then would make any comment on the entire controversy. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, MoS Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla and MoS in PMO V Narayansamy met Pranab at his residence in the Capital late on Wednesday after his return to try to resolve the political crisis. However, they refused to divulge the discussion details.
The PM, who is going to Sikkim on Thursday morning, may meet Sonia and Pranab after his return in the evening to discuss the entire matter, but any decision on the fate of Chidambaram will depend on the Supreme Court’s stand on Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy’s petition demanding probe against the Home Minister in the 2G spectrum scam.
The Government, whose image has been dented by the entire controversy, is trying hard to dismiss the ‘note’ as one prepared by a junior official of the Finance Ministry, but Pranab’s letter has clearly said that the note was prepared after much deliberation among various Ministries, including Law and Telecom.
This has not only made hollow the PM’s claim that there was no dissension within his Government, it will also force the Government to do further explanation on the entire issue as to whether these Ministries, PMO and Cabinet Secretariat had agreed to the Finance Ministry note which was “seen” by Pranab himself.
Earlier, the party sources indicated that Pranab will make a statement or address a Press conference to explain the entire situation and the blame for note will be deflected to the officials of the Finance Ministry, but in the light of the new letter now the situation is not clear. What has further aggravated the situation for the Government is that JPC members are now demanding that Pranab’s letter along with Finance Ministry note should be placed before Parliamentary panel on 2G spectrum scam.
Pranab’s main line of defence is reportedly been that the March 25 note was leaked from the PMO through an RTI and not from Finance Ministry.
According to sources, in his letter Pranab said that since ten different versions were there on the entire controversy it was decided that there should be a consolidated and comprehensive background note prepared harmonising the views of all the Ministries. The Cabinet Secretariat has held a meeting where officials of PMO, DoT, Law and Finance Ministry were present after which the Finance Ministry had prepared the note which was sent to PMO.
The purpose of the controversial note was that the Government should appear to speak in one voice in view of diversions of versions with Chidambaram saying that he favoured auction while PM making a statement in Parliament that both Chidambaram and Raja had come to an understanding about allocation on First-Cum-First-Serve basis.
Though the party refused to comment on Pranab’s letter, Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi defended Chidambaram saying that BJP was trying to mislead the people by demanding his resignation. Dismissing BJP’s charge against Chidambaram as “absolute cacophony”, he contended that the Finance Ministry note on the 2G issue cannot have any effect. He said that CBI cannot probe Chidambaram just because BJP was demanding. However, he seconded Prime Minister’s assessment that the people’s perception about the Government had declined.
Meanwhile, a section of the party is not happy with the manner the Government is conducting its business and complained that the lack of communication between the party and the Government had made their job of defending the Government difficult.
A senior Congress leader, on the condition of anonymity, cited the mishandling of 2G controversy, Anna Hazare and Ramdev issues by the Government and said that most of the time the party is not taken into confidence about the Government decisions and the logic behind the same.
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