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Prime VIP
New Delhi: The UPA remains in damage control mode, trying to downplay the internal crisis sparked off by the controversial note on the 2G spectrum allocation.
On Wednesday, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee did the balancing act when he wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi to explain the ministerial note, reportedly making it clear that the note did not suggest any criminality or indictment of P Chidambaram during his stint as Finance Minister.
Sources have told CNN-IBN that Mr Mukherjee's letter also stressed on the fact that the Prime Minister's Office was in the loop about the note and even gave inputs for it.
Sources say the Finance Minister's letter also explained the sequence of events that led to the note on 2G being made. But he refused to comment in public.
"The correspondence between the Prime Minister and and the ministers I consider to be is confidential," said Pranab Mukherjee.
The clarification from Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee only seems to have made things worse for the UPA. Twenty four hours after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh returned to India, his government plunged into a deeper crisis. The UPA's trouble-shooter Pranab mukherjee's explanation on the controversial 2G note has only muddled matters further - since his 4-page letter to the prime minister and Sonia Gandhi has practically debunked the UPA and Congress defence that this March 25, 2011 note pointing at Chidambaram's role in the 2G scam was just another note by a junior bureaucrat.
Pranab's written explanation categorically states that the Finance ministry note was prepared in consultation with the Prime Minister's office and was handled by the senior-most bureaucrat in the country - the Cabinet Secretary.
The note, as Pranab explains, was made as a consolidated and comprehensive background note.
A meeting held on March 15 and 16 at the Cabinet Secretary's office, was attended by secretaries in Finance, DOT, Law, Environment ministries and the Principal secretary in the PMO.
After the meeting, the finance ministry sent a 12-paragraph note to the Cabinet Secretary, who in turn returned it with 14 more paragraphs.
The Cabinet Secretary also asked for the document to be vetted and shown to the finance minister. The inputs were provided by the PMO and the cabinet secretariat.
"Your sources could be wrong. Our sources inform us differently. I do not wish to comment," said Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
Meanwhile, the BJP is scenting blood.
"The covering letter says the report has been seen by Pranab Mukherjee. The note was passed on from a lower bureaucrat to the minister. If it was been seen by the minister, it implies it has been approved by him," said Sushma Swaraj.
The explanation only makes its tough for the prime minister and his office from here on.
On Wednesday, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee did the balancing act when he wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi to explain the ministerial note, reportedly making it clear that the note did not suggest any criminality or indictment of P Chidambaram during his stint as Finance Minister.
Sources have told CNN-IBN that Mr Mukherjee's letter also stressed on the fact that the Prime Minister's Office was in the loop about the note and even gave inputs for it.
Sources say the Finance Minister's letter also explained the sequence of events that led to the note on 2G being made. But he refused to comment in public.
"The correspondence between the Prime Minister and and the ministers I consider to be is confidential," said Pranab Mukherjee.
The clarification from Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee only seems to have made things worse for the UPA. Twenty four hours after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh returned to India, his government plunged into a deeper crisis. The UPA's trouble-shooter Pranab mukherjee's explanation on the controversial 2G note has only muddled matters further - since his 4-page letter to the prime minister and Sonia Gandhi has practically debunked the UPA and Congress defence that this March 25, 2011 note pointing at Chidambaram's role in the 2G scam was just another note by a junior bureaucrat.
Pranab's written explanation categorically states that the Finance ministry note was prepared in consultation with the Prime Minister's office and was handled by the senior-most bureaucrat in the country - the Cabinet Secretary.
The note, as Pranab explains, was made as a consolidated and comprehensive background note.
A meeting held on March 15 and 16 at the Cabinet Secretary's office, was attended by secretaries in Finance, DOT, Law, Environment ministries and the Principal secretary in the PMO.
After the meeting, the finance ministry sent a 12-paragraph note to the Cabinet Secretary, who in turn returned it with 14 more paragraphs.
The Cabinet Secretary also asked for the document to be vetted and shown to the finance minister. The inputs were provided by the PMO and the cabinet secretariat.
"Your sources could be wrong. Our sources inform us differently. I do not wish to comment," said Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
Meanwhile, the BJP is scenting blood.
"The covering letter says the report has been seen by Pranab Mukherjee. The note was passed on from a lower bureaucrat to the minister. If it was been seen by the minister, it implies it has been approved by him," said Sushma Swaraj.
The explanation only makes its tough for the prime minister and his office from here on.
