Pranab, Chidambaram meet Sonia separately over 2G row

New Delhi, Sep 26 (PTI) Indian National Congress
President Sonia Gandhi Monday stepped into the 2G spectrum row
that has engulfed the Government by meeting Home Minister P
Chidambaram and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee amid
unconfirmed reports that the former had offered to quit.
Mukherjee saw Gandhi shortly after his return from New
York where he had met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
against the backdrop of the raging controversy over a Finance
Ministry note which suggested that Chidambaram when he was the
Finance Minister in 2008 could have prevented the 2G scam if
he had insisted on the auction of the spectrum. The note has
angered the Home Minister.
As the intense effort to defuse the crisis continued,
some media reports suggested that Chidambaram had offered to
step down but there was no authentic word on it. Chidambaram
had publicly stated a few days back that he would not speak on
the controversy till the Prime Minister returns from the US.
Singh is due to return home Tuesday.
Chidambaram, who met Gandhi first, was with her for 15
minutes while Mukherjee's parleys with the Congress President
lasted 40 minutes.
Before his parleys with Gandhi, Mukherjee repeated his
praise of Chidambaram as a "valuable colleague" and went on to
say that he was a "pillar of strength" to the Government.
Both Mukherjee and Chidambaram drove past waiting
reporters after meeting Gandhi at her 10 Janpath residence
without saying a word. Details of what transpired at the two
meetings were not immediately known.
This was Chidambaram's first meeting with Gandhi, who is
also United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairperson, after
controversy broke out last week over the note to the Prime
Minister's Office(PMO).
Indian Law Minister Salman Khurshid downplayed the row
over the note, saying there is no scope for any worry in the
document and that inferences drawn out of it were "not
correct". Khurshid also said the note was not worth keeping
the media "preoccupied" the for a long time.
At the All India Congress Committee (AICC) briefing,
party spokesperson Rashid Alvi did an apparent balancing act
saying neither Chidambaram nor Mukherjee has done anything
wrong.
Congress spokesman Abhisehk Singhvi said the Finance
Ministry note has some judgemental sentences and there is no
reason for creating a "sensation."
On reports that Chidambaram has offered to quit, Singhvi
said it is "speculative."
"Where is the question of the Home Minister offering to
resign? Where is the question of huge war going on there?
These discussions between Constitutional functionaries are
normal," Singhvi told NDTV.
Mukherjee said on his arrival from the US that he will
speak on the note only after discussions with the Prime
Minister and other colleagues.
He told reporters at the airport that a full-fledged
press conference will be held after the Prime Minister returns
home.
After reaching his North Block office, he said, "If it is
needed I will say whatever (I have) to say after Prime
Minister comes back and after we have discussions among
ourselves."
Khurshid at his briefing said, "I have seen the note. I
don't think the note has anything on which we should express
worry."
"Even if all parts of the note are believed to be
correct, I will say that the inferences drawn are not
correct," he added.
Khurshid, who made it clear that he was giving opinion in
his personal capacity and in the capacity of lawyer, claimed
that the matter was "not so big" as has been projected by the
media.
He said the media was giving unnecessary attention to the
note which, according to him, had "no meaning".
"I dont think the note should keep you (media)
preoccupied for such a long time," the Law Minister said.
Khurshid said the note was actually a "summary" prepared
by a official at the lower level.
"People give their opinion over and above the summary.
The importance of the opinion will be seen when the issue is
discussed," he said.
Accusing the BJP of running a propaganda aimed at
destabilising the government, Singhvi also questioned the
electronic media for "sensationalising" the issue.
The news channels have been running every half hour that
Chidambaram has offered to resign. What is the basis for this?
he asked.
"Nobody in the Congress says Chidambaram should resign,"
he said wondering "where is the crisis".
In a related development, the Home ministry came out with
a clarification following reports that Chidambaram has
cancelled his trip to eastern Indian state Orissa Tuesday to
take stock of the flood situation there.
"The Home Minister's programme for Orissa was not
finalised in the first place. So, there is no question of
cancellation," a Home Ministry spokesperson said tonight.