New Delhi:
As the two-day national executive meet of the BJP concluded today in New Delhi, the party, not mincing any words in its attack on the government on the recent 2G note row, called the truce between Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P Chidambaram a farce.
Briefing the media after the meet, Arun Jaitley, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, said, "The truce between Pranab and Chidambaram was a farce... Truth can only have one version."
Mr Jaitley also said the drift in governance is a major concern and the style of governance is full or arrogance and smugness.
On Thursday, in a show of unity, Mr Mukherjee and Mr Chidambaram, both principals in a blockbuster political drama, had appeared together to make a brief statement on the infamous "2G note." Mr Mukherjee said that the document, attributed to his ministry, was in fact "an inter-ministerial background paper" and that it contains "certain interferences and interpretations" that he said do not reflect his view.
Mr Chidambaram had then stepped forward to say, "I am happy with the statement read by my senior and distinguished colleague Mr Pranab Mukherjee. I accept the statement. As far as all of us in the government are concerned, the matter is closed."
The note in question, sent in March this year by Mr Mukherjee's Finance Ministry to the Prime Minister's Office, faults Mr Chidambaram for his actions as Finance Minister in 2008 in the context of the telecom scam. The most damaging part of the note states that the Ministry of Finance under Mr Chidambaram could have "stuck to its stand" to ensure that valuable spectrum was auctioned by then Telecom Minister A Raja. Instead, Mr Raja freely distributed mobile network licences and second-generation or 2G spectrum at throwaway prices to companies he allegedly favoured. For this, Mr Raja was arrested in February.