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Sonia brokers peace, Pranab makes his point too
In a bid to bring some relief for the Government and to save the party from further embarrassment, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday played the role of peace-maker between the two warring Ministers of the UPA Government-Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P Chidambaram-forcing them to agree to a public display of solidarity.
Sonia, who held a series of meetings during the day, emphasised to the major players in the entire drama involving the controversial March 25 Finance Ministry’s note that there should not be washing of any dirty linen in public and the political crisis be resolved at the earliest so that the party and the Government could function properly, Congress sources said.
During the two-hour long meeting with Pranab, she convinced him to make a public statement distancing himself from "inferences and interpretations" in the note as "not reflecting his views". At the meeting which was also attended by political secretary of the Congress President Ahmad Patel, Sonia reportedly insisted that the Finance Minister should make a clarification about the note as was being insisted by Chidambaram who wanted his name to be cleared from the 2G spectrum scam.
Though Pranab agreed to make a statement, he stuck to his ground on the note being an inter-ministerial background paper and not just the Finance Ministry's note-a point he had already made in the letter given to the PM and Sonia earlier and which he had conveyed to his ministerial colleagues Pawan Kumar Bansal, Rajiv Shukla and V Narayansamy during his late Wednesday night meeting. The party had to ultimately concede and Pranab's press statement clearly reflected this fact.
Sonia later also met Manmohan Singh for half-an-hour in the evening, their first after PM's return from abroad on Tuesday. The meeting happened only after the temporary truce was achieved following Pranab's statement in presence of Chidambaram. The meeting is significant as the party feels that lately the government has not been able to manage its affairs properly and even the controversial note found its way out of from the PMO which too had given its inputs in it.
Significantly, Sonia also held consultations with her trusted lieutenant Defence Minister AK Antony and met Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, which analysts feel is an indication of their growing importance in the ongoing political developments within the government and the party. Speaker Meira Kumar is scheduled to meet President Pratibha Patil on Friday at 10.30 am. While this is being attributed to be a customary call, sources do not rule it out to be one linked with the ongoing political developments.
The party, which has been defending Chidambaram in the entire drama, reiterated that nobody in the government is involved in the criminal aspect of the 2G spectrum and the ongoing court proceedings are about criminal liability in the case. It termed BJP's allegations against the Home Minister as baseless but recognizes that this is just a temporary relief as the ultimate decision would be taken only after the Supreme Court's decision on Subramanian Swamy petition demanding probe against Chidambaram.
Sonia, who held a series of meetings during the day, emphasised to the major players in the entire drama involving the controversial March 25 Finance Ministry’s note that there should not be washing of any dirty linen in public and the political crisis be resolved at the earliest so that the party and the Government could function properly, Congress sources said.
During the two-hour long meeting with Pranab, she convinced him to make a public statement distancing himself from "inferences and interpretations" in the note as "not reflecting his views". At the meeting which was also attended by political secretary of the Congress President Ahmad Patel, Sonia reportedly insisted that the Finance Minister should make a clarification about the note as was being insisted by Chidambaram who wanted his name to be cleared from the 2G spectrum scam.
Though Pranab agreed to make a statement, he stuck to his ground on the note being an inter-ministerial background paper and not just the Finance Ministry's note-a point he had already made in the letter given to the PM and Sonia earlier and which he had conveyed to his ministerial colleagues Pawan Kumar Bansal, Rajiv Shukla and V Narayansamy during his late Wednesday night meeting. The party had to ultimately concede and Pranab's press statement clearly reflected this fact.
Sonia later also met Manmohan Singh for half-an-hour in the evening, their first after PM's return from abroad on Tuesday. The meeting happened only after the temporary truce was achieved following Pranab's statement in presence of Chidambaram. The meeting is significant as the party feels that lately the government has not been able to manage its affairs properly and even the controversial note found its way out of from the PMO which too had given its inputs in it.
Significantly, Sonia also held consultations with her trusted lieutenant Defence Minister AK Antony and met Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, which analysts feel is an indication of their growing importance in the ongoing political developments within the government and the party. Speaker Meira Kumar is scheduled to meet President Pratibha Patil on Friday at 10.30 am. While this is being attributed to be a customary call, sources do not rule it out to be one linked with the ongoing political developments.
The party, which has been defending Chidambaram in the entire drama, reiterated that nobody in the government is involved in the criminal aspect of the 2G spectrum and the ongoing court proceedings are about criminal liability in the case. It termed BJP's allegations against the Home Minister as baseless but recognizes that this is just a temporary relief as the ultimate decision would be taken only after the Supreme Court's decision on Subramanian Swamy petition demanding probe against Chidambaram.
