My Scribles

The Supreme Court's observations on the CBI's affidavit on its coal scam report have been fodder for the opposition to step up the political heat. Law Minister Ashawni Kumar and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are in the line of fire. However, the UPA's crisis managers have said that no decision on the Law Minister's future will be taken until the Supreme Court passes a final order. Ashwani Kumar, the man in the eye of the storm, on Tuesday preferred to avoid the media, maintaining a stony silence. The Congress has deferred a decision on his fate till May 6. A series of meetings took place on Tuesday. Ashwani Kumar met Ahmed Patel, Sonia's political secretary and then the PM. The Congress seems to be weighing the options before it. It is hoping that on May 6, the CBI will say that its final report was never shown to the Law Minister, which would be a relief for the government. If the SC is soft on the government, it would again be a reprieve for it. However, if the...

Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sigh has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to appear before the Joint Parliamentary Committee probing the 2G scam to “clear your name” following allegations levelled against him. In a letter to Dr. Singh, Mr. Sinha cited the recent communication of the former Telecom Minister, A. Raja, in which he had claimed that all the decisions he took were with the consent of the Prime Minister and Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and said any hesitation by Dr. Singh to appear before the JPC would prove that he had “something to hide.” The former Finance Minister pointed out that when the Public Accounts Committee was examining the CAG report on the 2G scam, Dr. Singh had publicly offered to appear before it to enable the PAC reach the “right conclusions.” “You have not made a similar offer to the JPC despite the fact that many members of the JPC have publicly demanded that you appear before it. I think it is in your own interest to appear before the JPC and clear yo...