09-15-2007, 03:12 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Damage control: PM not Sonia took initiative </b>
Pioneer News Service | New Delh
The Congress spin doctors had gone to town on Thursday claiming that it was party president Sonia Gandhi's intervention that had prompted the Government to decide on withdrawing its controversial affidavit denying the existence of Lord Ram. Â
<b>But highly placed sources said that the adverse political fallout of the affidavit was discussed at the highest level in the Government and in the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) on Thursday. The meeting was presided over by Prime Minister Mannmohan Singh and attended by senior Cabinet Ministers.</b>
<b>Sources said that the overwhelming opinion in the CCPA was that in view of the possibility of mid-term polls, the Government must withdraw the affidavit to pre-empt the BJP from cashing in on the controversy. Incidentally, after the meeting, RJD chief Lalu Prasad had gone on record expressing his reservation over the controversial affidavit and acknowledging the existence of Lord Ram.</b>
But in the Congress scheme of things, the Government has always been made the scapegoat for unpopular decisions and Sonia Gandhi the rescuer. So, by afternoon Congress sources were claiming that 10 Janpath was highly upset with the Culture Ministry's affidavit and had asked the Government to withdraw it immediately. <!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Interestingly, the CCPA was done with its deliberations before the first news of Sonia Gandhi's unhappiness over the affidavit began to trickle in from the Congress headquarters. In fact, Law Minister HR Bhardwaj's press conference where he announced the Government's decision to withdraw the affidavit also followed the CCPA meeting. Bhardwaj came straight from the CCPA meet and informed the media about the decision to withdraw the affidavit.
<b>Sources said the Prime Minister was greatly upset by the content of the controversial affidavit and had taken personal interest in the matter. The Government's submission on Friday in the Supreme Court, seeking withdrawal of the controversial affidavit is understood to have been cleared by the PMO.</b>
After denying Manmohan Singh his due, the Congress leaders have now begun talking about a deep conspiracy behind the insertion of the disputed observation about Lord Ram, in the affidavit. On Friday, Congress leaders were claiming that the paragraph could have been deliberately included by someone to vilify the Congress.
Even though the Government had withdrawn the affidavit, senior Congress leaders admitted that damage has been done. "It is easy to rouse passions saying that the Congress had said that Ram does not exist. It will be difficult to convince the layman that it was a mistake which was rectified," a Congress leader remarked.
Meanwhile, the Congress rejected the BJP's demand for an apology from the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi. Faced with a barrage of questions on the "mistake" at a briefing here, Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said a process was on to find out
Damage control: <b>PM not Sonia took initiative how the "erroneous" affidavit was filed and to "fix the responsibility" for it.</b>Â
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
So it was a Christian hand.
Still no apology and firing from Moron Singh.
Pioneer News Service | New Delh
The Congress spin doctors had gone to town on Thursday claiming that it was party president Sonia Gandhi's intervention that had prompted the Government to decide on withdrawing its controversial affidavit denying the existence of Lord Ram. Â
<b>But highly placed sources said that the adverse political fallout of the affidavit was discussed at the highest level in the Government and in the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) on Thursday. The meeting was presided over by Prime Minister Mannmohan Singh and attended by senior Cabinet Ministers.</b>
<b>Sources said that the overwhelming opinion in the CCPA was that in view of the possibility of mid-term polls, the Government must withdraw the affidavit to pre-empt the BJP from cashing in on the controversy. Incidentally, after the meeting, RJD chief Lalu Prasad had gone on record expressing his reservation over the controversial affidavit and acknowledging the existence of Lord Ram.</b>
But in the Congress scheme of things, the Government has always been made the scapegoat for unpopular decisions and Sonia Gandhi the rescuer. So, by afternoon Congress sources were claiming that 10 Janpath was highly upset with the Culture Ministry's affidavit and had asked the Government to withdraw it immediately. <!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo--> Interestingly, the CCPA was done with its deliberations before the first news of Sonia Gandhi's unhappiness over the affidavit began to trickle in from the Congress headquarters. In fact, Law Minister HR Bhardwaj's press conference where he announced the Government's decision to withdraw the affidavit also followed the CCPA meeting. Bhardwaj came straight from the CCPA meet and informed the media about the decision to withdraw the affidavit.
<b>Sources said the Prime Minister was greatly upset by the content of the controversial affidavit and had taken personal interest in the matter. The Government's submission on Friday in the Supreme Court, seeking withdrawal of the controversial affidavit is understood to have been cleared by the PMO.</b>
After denying Manmohan Singh his due, the Congress leaders have now begun talking about a deep conspiracy behind the insertion of the disputed observation about Lord Ram, in the affidavit. On Friday, Congress leaders were claiming that the paragraph could have been deliberately included by someone to vilify the Congress.
Even though the Government had withdrawn the affidavit, senior Congress leaders admitted that damage has been done. "It is easy to rouse passions saying that the Congress had said that Ram does not exist. It will be difficult to convince the layman that it was a mistake which was rectified," a Congress leader remarked.
Meanwhile, the Congress rejected the BJP's demand for an apology from the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi. Faced with a barrage of questions on the "mistake" at a briefing here, Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said a process was on to find out
Damage control: <b>PM not Sonia took initiative how the "erroneous" affidavit was filed and to "fix the responsibility" for it.</b>Â
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
So it was a Christian hand.
Still no apology and firing from Moron Singh.