New Delhi, September 29: In the late night development Parlimentary Affairs Minister PK Bansal and and Minister of State in the Prime Minister s Office V Narayanasamy tonight visited Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee at his residence in what is believed to be a bid to defuse the reported standoff between the finance minister and Home Minister P Chidambaram over the 2G controversy. However, Mr Narayanasamy told reporters after the meeting that it was a routine exercise and no political significance should be attached to it.
The 2G controversy has taken a new turn following Mr Mukherjee s letter to the Prime Minister in which he has said that the March 15 note sent by the Ministry to the PMO had been prepared in consultation with other ministeries besides the Cabinet Secretariat and the PMO. The note, which robbed the already beleaguered UPA government, says that had the then finance minister P Chidambaram insisted on auction of 2G Spectrum, the massive loss to the national exchequer could have been avoided. Mr Mukherjee s explanatory letter has also been given to congress president Sonia Gandhi. The March 15 note was obtained through an RTI application and was produced in the court by Janta Party President Subramanian Swamy as evidence. The note came into light when both the Prime Minister and the finance minister were in the US in connection with the 66th session of the UN General Assembly. Mr Mukherjee had refused to comment on the issue when asked by reporters while he was in the US, saying the matter was in the court.
After coming back home the Finance Minister refused to satisfy the queries of mediapersons, saying that he will say anything on the issue only after he had spoken to Dr Singh. Mr Mukherjee, this evening came back from kolkata went straight to his North Block office and so far no meeting between him and the Prime Minister has taken place. Meanwhile the PM today met Chidambaram and they are understood to have discussed the issue. The controversy has given the Opposition BJP much needed ammunition to attack the Congress-led UPA government, demanding Mr Chidambaram s resignation and saying the government was in disarray because of what it called the standoff between the two seniormost Cabinet Ministers holding the key portfolios. There was also a lot of displeasure expressed at yesterday s JPC meeting over the 2G note of the Finance ministry not having being placed before it.
—-Agencies