2G war: PM rallies behind Chidambaram, BJP demands resignation

On Board Air India One: Ruling out any infighting among ministers of his government, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday  fully backed Home Minister P Chidambaram on the 2G spectrum issue. 

"I don't know what note you are talking about. The whole 2G matter is before the court. I don't want to comment on a matter that is subjudice", he told journalists accompanying him from Frankfurt to New York.

"As far as Mr P Chidambaram is concerned, as Finance Minister, he had enjoyed my full confidence and as Home Minister he continues to enjoy and inspire my full confidence," Singh said.

Earlier, Manmohan Singh called Chidambaram and is understood to have expressed full faith in his integrity, amid a raging controversy over his stand on the 2G spectrum allocation.

During a 20-minute call from Frankfurt where he made a overnight halt on his way to New York, Singh discussed with Chidambaram the issue of a 10-page note sent to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) by the Finance Ministry in March last.

In a new twist to the 2G spectrum case, a note to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) from the finance ministry said the airwaves could have been auctioned in 2008 if Chidambaram, then the finance minister, had "stuck to his stand".

In the note, the finance ministry says Chidambaram could have prevented spectrum from being given away at throwaway prices by insisting on its auction -- alluding that presumptive losses worth thousands of crores could have thus been avoided.

The note, which was apparently shown to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and accessed by way by an application under the Right to Information Act, was prepared by a deputy secretary in the finance ministry and sent to the Prime Minister's Office March 25.

The note became public after the Prime Minister had left Delhi on his foreign tour. The Minister has since been under attack.

The Prime Minister is believed to have counselled Chidambaram "to be patient" till he returns home from New York on September 27, highly placed sources said.

The sources also said that the Prime Minister was ready to say about the Home Minister's integrity.

CBI to study Swamy's dossiers

Meanwhile, the central government in New Delhi on Thursday  told the Supreme Court that the CBI will study the documents from Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy linking P Chidambaram to the 2G scam.

The government told Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice A.K. Ganguly: "The new documents filed for the first time before this court will naturally be studied and considered by the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) as usual and may be covered in the next status report."

Swamy on Wednesday submitted to the court documents demonstrating what he alleged was involvement of Chidambaram, now the home minister, in deciding the 2G spectrum pricing when he was the finance minister.

The documents filed by Swamy included a communication of Jan 30, 2008, by the department of economic affairs of the finance ministry recording the gist of the meeting between the then finance minister Chidambaram and Raja.

BJP demands Chidambaram's ouster 
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanded the ouster of Home Minister P. Chidambaram and said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) should investigate his role in the 2G spectrum scam.

"This clearly proves that the role of P. Chidambaram in as finance minister in the 2G scam is responsible," BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi told reporters here.

"Either he should resign himself or he should be dismissed, I demand it strongly," he said, adding that there should also be a CBI probe.

Congress defends Chidambaram

Coming in the defence of Home Minister P. Chidambaram after the opposition demanded his resignation over the 2G scam, the Congress described it as a "mischievous attempt" to create a rift in the party.

"The party does not doubt his integrity. This precise issue has been raised by Dr (Subramanian) Swamy in the apex court and is sub judice," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi told reporters here.

Singhvi said the "mischievous attempt" by the opposition to create a rift between different constitutional functionaries was highly regrettable.

"Without waiting for the proceedings to be completed, it is highly objectionable and inappropriate for Dr Swamy or anyone else to pass premature judgment on the very same issue on which he is seeking relief," Singhvi said.

The revelations gave further ammunition to the opposition to target Chidambaram.