As the Opposition onslaught on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh continued unabated, and speculation raged on through Wednesday about his stepping down, a senior Congress functionary, categorically ruling out the possibility of Dr. Singh quitting, said the party was fully backing him.
“There is absolutely no question of that. Everyone [in the party] is solidly behind the Prime Minister,” he told The Hindu .
Indeed, there was a sense that the party had closed ranks behind the Prime Minister, largely because his colleagues believe that in this season of scams he stands out as an example of probity in public life. Some Ministerial colleagues, party sources said, even urged the Prime Minister to use the Supreme Court's observations as an opportunity to go full steam ahead on a clean-up of the government, while highlighting the constraints of observing the coalition dharma.
Meanwhile, the government sources pointed out that the Prime Minister far from delaying action against the former Telecom Minister, A. Raja, had “lived up to the promise” he had made at his press conference in May earlier this year — that he would act the moment he had something concrete in his hands. And he had done precisely that, by sacking Mr. Raja “within 24 hours of receiving prima facie evidence against him by a constitutionally mandated authority, the Comptroller and Auditor General.”
Dr. Singh, these sources added, could not act merely on the basis of a complaint, while pointing to the sacking in the past from his Union Council of Ministers of Mr. Shibu Soren and Mr. Taslimuddin, once they had been indicted. Similarly, when the UPA won a second term in 2009, he had refused to take back both T.R. Baalu and A. Raja, both of the DMK – he had his way with Mr. Baalu, but, “unfortunately not with Mr. Raja,” these sources stressed.
Echoing these views, party spokesperson Manish Tewari, facing questions on Dr. Singh's “inaction,” stressed that the Prime Minister did take action by securing Mr. Raja's resignation before the CAG report was tabled in Parliament. “The Prime Minister has taken action. It is wrong to say he has not acted. Even before the CAG report was tabled in Parliament, it was the Prime Minister who secured the resignation of the Telecom Minister,” Mr. Tewari said.
Clearly, on Wednesday, the Congress and the government were in damage control mode. On Thursday, the party will once again have to deal with the Opposition's continued demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Raja affair, something it is still not prepared to concede, as well as demands for Dr. Singh's resignation. As for the government, it will have to respond to the Supreme Court on Thursday. “The Supreme Court has asked the government a question and the government will give an appropriate response,” Mr. Tewari said, responding to a query on the court's observations.
Meanwhile, it is learnt that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the government's trouble shooter, and Home Minister P. Chidambaram will be in Madurai on Thursday to attend the wedding of DMK leader and Chemicals and Fertilizer Minister M.K. Alagiri's son. The Prime Minister and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, it is learnt, will not be there.
