12-06-2005, 12:00 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Gurumurthy-- Natwar scares Sonia</b>Â Â Â Â
As she scares Manmohan and Natwar scares her...
Tuesday December 6 2005 00:00 IST
Constitutionally, Manmohan can even sack Natwar. But he cannot because it is not he, but, it is Sonia who made him minister. So it is only she who can sack him. Manmohan functions under Sonia, not under the Constitution. So he has to suffer Natwar, just as he suffers silently many others.
But why does Sonia, who has no constitutional or other constraints on her powers, not sack Natwar. Why? Is she also scared? Here is the clue. By taking the Mathrani issue to the gates of 10 Janpath, Jagat has already hinted at what Natwar might do if he were sacked! QED: Manmohan Singh cannot sack Natwar because he is scared of Sonia. And Sonia will not sack him because she is frightened of him. Natwar must be laughing at both from ear to ear despite all his troubles!
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S Gurumurthy
Aniel Mathrani is the latest entrant in the Iraq oil voucher fraud theatre. In his sensational interview to India Today,, which incidentally is voice recorded, he has confirmed three things.
One, Iraqis only needed a green signal for giving the oil vouchers to the Congress Party and Natwar provided it. Second, Natwarâs son Jagat Singh and Jagatâs cousin, Andaleep accompanied Natwar to Baghdad where they were looking for business. Third, Natwarâs action did imply to the Iraqi authorities that the two young men were part of Congress establishment which was enough for the Iraqis to part with the oil vouchers to them.
Mathrani does not stop at that. He asserts that Natwar Singh and Congress party were âone and the sameâ in the oil allocation list. He says it is âhogwashâ that Natwar and Congress did not know that their names figured in the allottees list. Mathraniâs later statements confirmed what he had told India Today. He charged that what he said âoff the recordâ had been âunethicallyâ used by the magazine. This damns the Congress and Natwar more, not less.
Who is this Mathrani? A Congressman, then in the foreign affairs cell of the party under Natwar; now the Indian Ambassador to Croatia - a job he has surely lost by stammering the truth off the record! He was in Baghdad and Amman along with Natwar in the year 2001.
Qualitatively, his testimony is a confession by a Congressman, also by a Manmohan government functionary. Even otherwise he was personally close to Natwar and was working under him. Thus he was an eye witness to the business transacted by Natwar, Jagat and Andaleep at Baghdad from where later they got oil vouchers and Amman where they paid kickbacks out of their gains to Saddam.
Mathrani is also cogent and meticulous in his assertions. He recalls every detail of the Baghdad and Amman episode. He also asserts that Sonia Gandhi, the Congress President, accompanied by Natwar, met the then Iraqi Vice President Ramadan at Delhi in November 27, 2000. This is from where the entire sequence started. The second step was the invitation from the Iraqi government to the Congress party addressed to Natwar. Then Sonia Gandhi sent a four-member Congress delegation in March 2001 as the third step which clinched the oil vouchers for the party. Mathrani confirms this.
Interestingly, Soniaâs meeting with the Iraqi Vice President seems to have given - or was it intended to so give? - the first indication to the Iraqi authorities that Natwar carried the weight of the Congress President. As if to confirm to the Iraqi regime that Natwar represented Sonia Gandhi, she also sent a letter to Saddam Hussein through Natwar.
Now one can understand why Mathrani says that Natwar and Congress were âone and the sameâ in the oil vouchers list. It is clear that Iraqis intended and gave the oil vouchers for the Congress Party. The only issue is whether Natwar and company pocketed them and cheated the party, or they faithfully passed them on and the party is sacrificing Natwar to save itself and its leader.
After Mathraniâs sensational exposure Jagat Singh came out with another claim that he was in the delegation as a member of the Youth Congress!
Within minutes of Jagatâs claim Surjewalla, the then Youth Congress President, denied that Jagat went as the Youth Congress general secretary! This brings in another interesting dimension. Jagat was the Youth Congress general secretary also, not just Natwarâs son, when he got the oil vouchers.
Still Manmohan Singh helplessly hangs to legalisms, asks the Enforcement Directorate to interrogate Mathrani! Simultaneously as External Affairs Minister he recalls Mathrani, obviously to coerce him as a witness!
Now look at the political realities. Constitutionally, Manmohan can even sack Natwar. But he cannot because it is not he, but, it is Sonia who made him minister. So it is only she who can sack him. Manmohan functions under Sonia, not under the Constitution. So he has to suffer Natwar, just as he suffers silently many others.
But why does Sonia, who has no constitutional or other constraints on her powers, not sack Natwar. Why? Is she also scared? Here is the clue. By taking the Mathrani issue to the gates of 10 Janpath, Jagat has already hinted at what Natwar might do if he were sacked! QED: Manmohan Singh cannot sack Natwar because he is scared of Sonia. And Sonia will not sack him because she is frightened of him. Natwar must be laughing at both from ear to ear despite all his troubles!
Writerâs email: comment@gurumurthy.net <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
As she scares Manmohan and Natwar scares her...
Tuesday December 6 2005 00:00 IST
Constitutionally, Manmohan can even sack Natwar. But he cannot because it is not he, but, it is Sonia who made him minister. So it is only she who can sack him. Manmohan functions under Sonia, not under the Constitution. So he has to suffer Natwar, just as he suffers silently many others.
But why does Sonia, who has no constitutional or other constraints on her powers, not sack Natwar. Why? Is she also scared? Here is the clue. By taking the Mathrani issue to the gates of 10 Janpath, Jagat has already hinted at what Natwar might do if he were sacked! QED: Manmohan Singh cannot sack Natwar because he is scared of Sonia. And Sonia will not sack him because she is frightened of him. Natwar must be laughing at both from ear to ear despite all his troubles!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S Gurumurthy
Aniel Mathrani is the latest entrant in the Iraq oil voucher fraud theatre. In his sensational interview to India Today,, which incidentally is voice recorded, he has confirmed three things.
One, Iraqis only needed a green signal for giving the oil vouchers to the Congress Party and Natwar provided it. Second, Natwarâs son Jagat Singh and Jagatâs cousin, Andaleep accompanied Natwar to Baghdad where they were looking for business. Third, Natwarâs action did imply to the Iraqi authorities that the two young men were part of Congress establishment which was enough for the Iraqis to part with the oil vouchers to them.
Mathrani does not stop at that. He asserts that Natwar Singh and Congress party were âone and the sameâ in the oil allocation list. He says it is âhogwashâ that Natwar and Congress did not know that their names figured in the allottees list. Mathraniâs later statements confirmed what he had told India Today. He charged that what he said âoff the recordâ had been âunethicallyâ used by the magazine. This damns the Congress and Natwar more, not less.
Who is this Mathrani? A Congressman, then in the foreign affairs cell of the party under Natwar; now the Indian Ambassador to Croatia - a job he has surely lost by stammering the truth off the record! He was in Baghdad and Amman along with Natwar in the year 2001.
Qualitatively, his testimony is a confession by a Congressman, also by a Manmohan government functionary. Even otherwise he was personally close to Natwar and was working under him. Thus he was an eye witness to the business transacted by Natwar, Jagat and Andaleep at Baghdad from where later they got oil vouchers and Amman where they paid kickbacks out of their gains to Saddam.
Mathrani is also cogent and meticulous in his assertions. He recalls every detail of the Baghdad and Amman episode. He also asserts that Sonia Gandhi, the Congress President, accompanied by Natwar, met the then Iraqi Vice President Ramadan at Delhi in November 27, 2000. This is from where the entire sequence started. The second step was the invitation from the Iraqi government to the Congress party addressed to Natwar. Then Sonia Gandhi sent a four-member Congress delegation in March 2001 as the third step which clinched the oil vouchers for the party. Mathrani confirms this.
Interestingly, Soniaâs meeting with the Iraqi Vice President seems to have given - or was it intended to so give? - the first indication to the Iraqi authorities that Natwar carried the weight of the Congress President. As if to confirm to the Iraqi regime that Natwar represented Sonia Gandhi, she also sent a letter to Saddam Hussein through Natwar.
Now one can understand why Mathrani says that Natwar and Congress were âone and the sameâ in the oil vouchers list. It is clear that Iraqis intended and gave the oil vouchers for the Congress Party. The only issue is whether Natwar and company pocketed them and cheated the party, or they faithfully passed them on and the party is sacrificing Natwar to save itself and its leader.
After Mathraniâs sensational exposure Jagat Singh came out with another claim that he was in the delegation as a member of the Youth Congress!
Within minutes of Jagatâs claim Surjewalla, the then Youth Congress President, denied that Jagat went as the Youth Congress general secretary! This brings in another interesting dimension. Jagat was the Youth Congress general secretary also, not just Natwarâs son, when he got the oil vouchers.
Still Manmohan Singh helplessly hangs to legalisms, asks the Enforcement Directorate to interrogate Mathrani! Simultaneously as External Affairs Minister he recalls Mathrani, obviously to coerce him as a witness!
Now look at the political realities. Constitutionally, Manmohan can even sack Natwar. But he cannot because it is not he, but, it is Sonia who made him minister. So it is only she who can sack him. Manmohan functions under Sonia, not under the Constitution. So he has to suffer Natwar, just as he suffers silently many others.
But why does Sonia, who has no constitutional or other constraints on her powers, not sack Natwar. Why? Is she also scared? Here is the clue. By taking the Mathrani issue to the gates of 10 Janpath, Jagat has already hinted at what Natwar might do if he were sacked! QED: Manmohan Singh cannot sack Natwar because he is scared of Sonia. And Sonia will not sack him because she is frightened of him. Natwar must be laughing at both from ear to ear despite all his troubles!
Writerâs email: comment@gurumurthy.net <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->