Antulay

New Delhi, Dec. 19: Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi are in a fix over the reported offer of minority affairs minister A.R. Antulay to resign from the cabinet.

The Congress core committee, which was to take a call this evening, put off its meeting, underlining the dilemma staring the government and the party.

“Antulay has made his removal virtually untenable. Shivraj Patil (former home minister) was another ball game,” a cabinet minister said.

There was no official confirmation on whether the quit letter had reached Prime Minister Singh, though Antulay hinted it might have.

“I will neither confirm nor deny, please ask the Prime Minister. I am a self-respecting person. Forget the resignation, that is a simple thing. I had resigned as Maharashtra chief minister even when I had 100 per cent backing of Congress MLAs,” he told journalists.

Congress sources said while the government had to grapple with the “embarrassment” of Pakistan using Antulay’s comments to downplay its “role” in the Mumbai attacks and shift the onus on “home-grown” terror, the party could not ignore reports that Muslims believed Antulay.

In a TV interview on December 17, Antulay had raised questions over the circumstances in which Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare was killed during the attacks.

He then pointedly referred to the ongoing probe into the Sangh “parivar’s” alleged complicity in the Malegaon blasts and said there was more it than met the eye.

Later, when the BJP and the Shiv Sena protested in Parliament, he claimed he had no doubt that Karkare was killed by Pakistani terrorists but wondered why the ATS chief had to travel with two other cops and in an opposite direction.

Till last night, the Congress — which officially distanced itself from Antulay — hoped it could cajole the 80-year-old MP from Maharashtra’s Kulaba to proffer a “semi-apology or a clarification”.

Antulay was truculent. That a junior minister, Shakeel Ahmad, was today asked to escort him ostensibly to ensure he didn’t shoot off his mouth did not deter him.

He told The Telegraph: “The party and government should feel proud of what I said. I am surrounded by satans and devils who see no virtue in goodness and honesty.”

He refused to clarify who the malefic elements were. “That you may infer.”

Sources said Antulay received an “unprecedented” reception from Muslims when he went to offer Friday prayers.

Ejaz Ali, a Janata Dal (United) MP of the Rajya Sabha, said he and other Muslim MPs urged Antulay not to recant his statements. “Karkare is, no doubt, a martyr, but Antulay has rightly asked if he is a victim of terrorists’ bullets or a conspiracy. The matter should be probed.”

Congress sources said the government should make a House statement giving three assurances: the Karkare killing will be investigated in depth; the Malegaon probe has not been abandoned; and a senior person with “impeccable credentials” will replace Karkare.