01-14-2006, 09:58 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Jittery Cong may make Bhardwaj the fall guy</b>
Pioneer.com
Sanjay K Jha/ New Delhi
Having sensed that the Quattrocchi revelation was becoming a huge embarrassment for the party and the Government, the Congress leadership on Friday showed acute desperation to distance itself from the entire episode. The party grapevine was agog with speculation that a suitable scapegoat would be found to ensure the taint doesn't reach the Prime Minister and the Congress president.
At the official Press briefing, party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi was reluctant to answer queries related to Quattrocchi, arguing the Law Ministry and the CBI were the competent authorities to tackle those questions. He asserted the Congress, which wanted the law to take its own course and the guilty to be punished, had nothing to do with the decision. To questions related to Quattrocchi's proximity with Ms Sonia Gandhi, he said the attempt to sensationalise this issue to tarnish the image of the Gandhi family is nothing new.
Mr Singhvi took care to restrict the development to "a particular department", seeking to convey a message that the Government as a whole wasn't involved in the decision. In fact, the attempt to isolate the Law Ministry and lay the entire lame at its doors was visible at different layers of the party and the Government. Even the Prime Minister's Office claimed it was not consulted while taking this decision.
Nobody in the Congress appeared to be defending the decision and <b>there were murmurs in the party about this "coup" having been plotted by a few persons. Congress leaders said the Additional Solicitor General involved in the decision was "extremely close" to Law Minister HR Bhardwaj </b>and said that most people, including the Prime Minister, were not privy to this decision. Some Congress leaders even started speculating that the Law Minister might ultimately lose his job in the coming reshuffle.
But there was no answer to the question whether the decision was taken under instructions from 10 Janpath or taken independently to please or embarrass 10 Janpath. Officially, Mr Singhvi rubbished all suggestions about the involvement of the Congress president and repeatedly asserted that the Congress wanted the guilty to be punished. But after endless grilling by the media, Mr Singhvi remarked cautiously, "We are not holding any brief for Mr Quattrocchi. But the law official didn't give any value judgment as to whether the accounts should be frozen or de-frozen."
Specifically asked if the Congress believed the position taken by the law official concerned was right, Mr Singhvi said, "We can't answer this question. We don't have relevant information. Only the Law Ministry and the CBI can answer these questions."
<b>The Congress party's aloofness and ignorance scarcely impressed the media as it is difficult to believe the Law Ministry can stage this coup on its own. And if such important decisions are taken by keeping the Prime Minister in the dark, the functioning of this Government clearly shows a dangerous trend</b>.
The larger issue, however, is the political fall-out as this would create an impression that the Congress-led Government's priority is to provide comfort to such controversial figures like Quattrocchi. This will also damage the image of Ms Sonia Gandhi as the Opposition is bound to mount a huge propaganda about Quattrocchi's intimacy with her. Little wonder, the party has woken up to swift damage control by refusing to endorse the Government's decision.
This is particularly disturbing for the Congress as it had just come out of the Volcker vortex and redeemed its image by acting tough on the members of Parliament in the cash-for-question scandal. The party was looking forward to wipe the slate clean and begin anew by asserting its pro-people agenda at the Hyderabad plenary and strengthening the ministerial team at the Centre. But the fresh jolt has unnerved the party and the Government, where the allies too won't feel happy about such decisions.
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Pioneer.com
Sanjay K Jha/ New Delhi
Having sensed that the Quattrocchi revelation was becoming a huge embarrassment for the party and the Government, the Congress leadership on Friday showed acute desperation to distance itself from the entire episode. The party grapevine was agog with speculation that a suitable scapegoat would be found to ensure the taint doesn't reach the Prime Minister and the Congress president.
At the official Press briefing, party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi was reluctant to answer queries related to Quattrocchi, arguing the Law Ministry and the CBI were the competent authorities to tackle those questions. He asserted the Congress, which wanted the law to take its own course and the guilty to be punished, had nothing to do with the decision. To questions related to Quattrocchi's proximity with Ms Sonia Gandhi, he said the attempt to sensationalise this issue to tarnish the image of the Gandhi family is nothing new.
Mr Singhvi took care to restrict the development to "a particular department", seeking to convey a message that the Government as a whole wasn't involved in the decision. In fact, the attempt to isolate the Law Ministry and lay the entire lame at its doors was visible at different layers of the party and the Government. Even the Prime Minister's Office claimed it was not consulted while taking this decision.
Nobody in the Congress appeared to be defending the decision and <b>there were murmurs in the party about this "coup" having been plotted by a few persons. Congress leaders said the Additional Solicitor General involved in the decision was "extremely close" to Law Minister HR Bhardwaj </b>and said that most people, including the Prime Minister, were not privy to this decision. Some Congress leaders even started speculating that the Law Minister might ultimately lose his job in the coming reshuffle.
But there was no answer to the question whether the decision was taken under instructions from 10 Janpath or taken independently to please or embarrass 10 Janpath. Officially, Mr Singhvi rubbished all suggestions about the involvement of the Congress president and repeatedly asserted that the Congress wanted the guilty to be punished. But after endless grilling by the media, Mr Singhvi remarked cautiously, "We are not holding any brief for Mr Quattrocchi. But the law official didn't give any value judgment as to whether the accounts should be frozen or de-frozen."
Specifically asked if the Congress believed the position taken by the law official concerned was right, Mr Singhvi said, "We can't answer this question. We don't have relevant information. Only the Law Ministry and the CBI can answer these questions."
<b>The Congress party's aloofness and ignorance scarcely impressed the media as it is difficult to believe the Law Ministry can stage this coup on its own. And if such important decisions are taken by keeping the Prime Minister in the dark, the functioning of this Government clearly shows a dangerous trend</b>.
The larger issue, however, is the political fall-out as this would create an impression that the Congress-led Government's priority is to provide comfort to such controversial figures like Quattrocchi. This will also damage the image of Ms Sonia Gandhi as the Opposition is bound to mount a huge propaganda about Quattrocchi's intimacy with her. Little wonder, the party has woken up to swift damage control by refusing to endorse the Government's decision.
This is particularly disturbing for the Congress as it had just come out of the Volcker vortex and redeemed its image by acting tough on the members of Parliament in the cash-for-question scandal. The party was looking forward to wipe the slate clean and begin anew by asserting its pro-people agenda at the Hyderabad plenary and strengthening the ministerial team at the Centre. But the fresh jolt has unnerved the party and the Government, where the allies too won't feel happy about such decisions.
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