Temporary truce in UPA-II

The drift in the UPA-II government arising out of the finance ministry note of dated March 25, 2011 was deepening because it pointed blame on Home Minister P Chidambram for 2 G Scam. The finance ministry note clearly reflected that if the then Finance Minister P Chidambram had insisted on acutioning the 2G Spectrum licenses instead of 2001 pricing, the scam could have been avoided.
The finance ministry note was procured through the use of RTI and Janata Party President Subramanium Swamy moved the Supreme Court urging it to direct CBI to investigate the role of Home Minister P Chidambram's role in the 2G Scam in which the former telecom minister and prime accused is in Tihar for months.
Chidambram appeared deeply disturbed with the surfacing of the finance ministry note at the action of his senior colleague finance minister Pranab Mukherjee. The finance minister may say now that apart from the factual background of the note, its interpretation and inferences do not reflect his views but one thing is clear that it reaches PMO with his consent and it also contains evidence in the form of word 'seen' scribled by none other than the minister himself. His distancing himself from the note has no significance as the matter is is subjudice and now it has become court’s property.
Neither FM has authority to condone HM for his alleged role in 2 G Scam nor matter can be closed by HM when it is going through the trial by the apex court. Honourable judges would deliver the verdict. Joint appearance of HM and FM is meaningless. Their body language had already told a different story.
Both the warring senior most ministers Pranab Mukherjee and P Chidambram posed a united posture before the media to send the message out that there was no difference in the government. The truce between the two was reached through strenuous effort by Congress President Sonia Gandhi. It is her instruction to finance minister to resolve the issue at the earliest. Mukherjee fell in line immediately and tried his best to assuage the bruised sentiment of P Chidambram whom he called a valued colleague last week during a press conference in New York.
The festering of the controversy for more than a week has dented the image of the government badly. It clearly indicated that there was deep crisis of leadership in the government. Anarchy like situation prevails within it. It has become difficult even for the minister whether to take order from the PM or to some one else to pursue any step. An atmosphere of confusion must be removed and the CEO must be given authority to constitute his boardroom. Otherwise, company is bound to run in enormous deficit. The same problem is with Dr. Manmohan Singh- led UPA-II government. Dr. Singh has completely failed so far to assert his authority. He appeared to be PM in name only.
It is also correct to say that if prime minister Dr. Singh had been watchful of the activities going on in every ministry, plethora of scandals would not have surfaced in his government.