New York, Sept 26 : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday decided to back Home Minister P Chidambaram to the hilt to minimise the damage over the Finance Ministry's 2g note, reports The Pioneer.
both of them discussed the raging controversy over the Finance Ministry note hinting at P Chidambaram's involvement in the 2G scam during his tenure as Finance Minister in 2008.Mukherjee arrived in New York from Washington rescheduling his travel plans ahead of his return to New Delhi on Monday evening.
After his nearly hour-long meeting with Singh at the New York Palace Hotel where Prime Minister is staying, the finance Minister briefed the media but refused to speak on the issue, saying the matter was sub judice and he would first speak to ‘valued colleague' P Chidambaram and other leaders.He said, “It would not be proper on my part to make any comment on that issue.”
The Finance Minister began his comments on the 2G note saying “I am sorry. I cannot make any comment on it.” Mukherjee said, “Unless I talk to the Law Minister, unless I talk to to Chidambaram, who is our valued colleague, unless I talk to other party leaders and I go through all the relevant papers, what comments will I make and why should I make a comment on domestic issues outside India?”
The Finance Minister's cryptic comments came following a volley of questions by journalists on the unusual meeting that took place after he flew out of Washington for New York hours before his scheduled departure.
“I am not a fugitive. I am not leaving the country for all time to come. Therefore I can say, what is permissible on the matter as it is sub judice. I am not a lawyer. I shall have to take expert opinion on it,” a visibly annoyed Mukherjee shot back.
Mukherjee, who was in Washington for IMF and World Bank meetings, clarified that he had not cut short his visit nor cancelled any of his meetings.
“I spent almost one hour with him (Prime Minister),” Mukherjee said, adding that he had briefed Singh on his interactions with leaders from America and Europe.
The Finance Minister, who will return to Delhi on Monday, said he would be leaving for Kolkata soon after and hence he wanted to brief the Prime Minister.
Asked about the Finance Ministry's note, Mukherjee said that except for newspaper clippings, “I have no information and there I find it is a matter which has been produced... A piece of paper, a note from the Finance Ministry to the PMO has been obtained through RTI and placed in court.”
Told that the Opposition was making an issue of the note, he said, “It is their... Opposition's job. What else will the Opposition do?”
Mukherjee told the waiting media that since all of them wanted to meet him on Saturday and that he was a bit abrupt, he thought he would interact with them on Sunday but quickly hastened to add “I am not going to give you any earthshaking news.”
Pressed further by a TV journalist, the Minister shot back saying, “I am not here to satisfy your infinite inquisitiveness...I am sorry what you wanted to know I could not oblige, but sorry can't help.”
Besides meeting his ministerial colleagues, Mukherjee said the legal implications would also have to be found out.
The two leaders are believed to have discussed the need to undertake a damage control exercise to pre-empt the Opposition for widening its attack and bring the entire UPA Government in the line of fire.
They are reported to have discussed that if Chidambaram was not defended to the hilt, the Congress will be seen as party that benefited in the 2G scam. Such perception could be ‘deadly' for the Congress, which had so far put the entire blame at the door of the DMK.
Reports said that PM wanted to discuss the ramification of the Finance Ministry's note, which had triggered demand for Chidambaram's resignation. The matter needed urgent attention because the Supreme Court on Tuesday will resume hearing on Subramanian Swamy's petition seeking prosecution of Chidambaram in 2G scam.
The Finance Ministry note was submitted by Swamy to the court to make strong case against Chidambaram.
The Prime Minister and Pranab Mukherjee will meet Sonia Gandhi when they return to New Delhi. Sources said that Sonia Gandhi has instructed the party to present a united face and fully back Chidambaram.
Trouble began when an RTI note revealed that Pranab Mukherjee's Ministry had written to the Prime Minister's Office saying that Chidambaram could have prevented the 2G scam.
On his arrival in New York, Pranab refused to talk to journalists as Secret Service personnel herded him to his room in the hotel where the Indian delegation accompanying the Prime Minister is also staying.
A senior MEA official had to make way for Mukherjee's accommodation in a suite in view of pressure on hotels due to the ongoing General Assembly session of the United Nations for which several delegations from various countries are currently in the city.
Sources said that the meeting had been sought by Mukherjee.
The Prime Minister had on Saturday rejected the Opposition demand for the resignation of home minister Chidambaram over the 2G issue and made it clear he would defend all his Cabinet colleagues.
Ahead of his meeting with Mukherjee, Singh had also said there was nothing “unusual” in the demand of the Opposition and asserted there was no question of him getting bothered about it.
He was replying to questions by reporters on the strident demand of the Opposition for Chidambaram's resignation in the light of the finance ministry's 2G note to the PMO submitted to the Supreme Court last week.
