M A I N   N E W S

2G note not mine, Pranab tells PM
Says it was put together with inputs from various ministries
Anita Katyal
Our Political Correspondent

New Delhi, September 28
Caught between a belligerent Opposition and his feuding Cabinet colleagues, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is yet to resolve the dispute over the controversial 2G Spectrum document though Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has written to him a letter to explain that he had no role in preparation of the note which was put together with inputs from various ministries, including the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

The Prime Minister, who got back from New York last night, today met Home Minister P Chidambaram during the course of a lunch he had hosted for former British PM Tony Blair.

The Home Minister is learnt to be extremely upset over the note sent by the Finance Ministry to the PMO this March stating that Chidambaram had not been sufficiently proactive in prevailing upon then Telecom Minister A Raja from selling 2G Spectrum at throwaway prices to favoured companies.

The note, which was made public through an RTI query, has triggered a storm in the Congress as it suggests that its two top ministers are at war with each other. It is also being cited in the Supreme Court in the ongoing case seeking a probe into Chidambaram’s role in the 2G Spectrum scam.

Mukherjee, who flew back from Kolkata this evening, is likely to meet the PM tomorrow evening after he returns from his trip to quake-hit Sikkim. It is only after this meeting that the PM is expected to discuss the matter with the Congress president.

In his letter, Mukherjee has pointed out that the note was not prepared by the Finance Ministry but was put together as a “background paper” after inter-ministerial consultations to harmonise different views in the government on the 2G Spectrum allocation case. It said this note was discussed over several meetings which were convened by the Cabinet Secretariat and attended by senior officers from other ministries including the PMO.

While Mukherjee has been quick to explain the genesis of the note, which is said to be a factual summary of the 2G Spectrum allocation case, questions are being raised about the subjective comments in it with regard to Chidambaram’s role in the case. Although the document, prepared by PGS Rao, deputy director in the finance ministry, says it has been seen by the Finance Minister (Mukherjee), nobody is now owing up to its controversial content. Congress insiders are wondering how this note was made public through an RTI query and whether somebody had specific information about the notings.

Mukherjee had given his explanatory letter to the Prime Minister when the two leaders met in New York last week in the backdrop of the controversy which had surfaced back home. Mukherjee is also learnt to have handed over the same letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi when he met her on his return from the United States on Monday.

While the Congress is trying to put its house in order, the Opposition has launched a blistering attack against Chidambaram about his role in the Spectrum scam and has demanded his resignation. The PM has been quick to reject this demand. Speaking to mediapersons on his way back from New York, he had asserted that the Opposition’s attacks on his government were “premature restlessness”. “We have a mandate for five years. They cannot force an early election. This is not the way,” the PM had said.

He had gone a step further to state that attempts were being made to “destabilise” the polity and had underlined that there was no dissension in his Cabinet as was being made out in the media.