New Delhi, May 14: Human resource development minister Arjun Singh has distanced himself from Ajit Jogi’s aborted campaign to have Sonia Gandhi take over as Prime Minister.

When the former Chhattisgarh chief minister released a letter on May 11 ' purportedly signed by 25 MPs ' urging Sonia to honour the Rae Bareli mandate and become Prime Minister, a section of the Congress suspected Arjun was behind the move.

The reason was the HRD minister had mentored Jogi when he quit the civil services to join politics.

Today Arjun told reporters that he did not agree “even a bit” with Jogi’s demand. Although it was a response to a question, sources said a “clarification” was necessary to quell “suspicion” of his “role”.

However, those familiar with Arjun’s style of politics have said from day one that he would never operate so “ham-handedly”. “If he wants to needle someone at the top, he would do it through an ideological or policy issue. That, too, after assessing the extent and degree of support it would garner within and outside the Congress,” said a source.