Pranab Mukherjee

New Delhi, Sept. 28: Top government sources tonight said no further clarification was required after the Prime Minister’s categorical assertion yesterday that there was no dissent in his cabinet, amid speculation about a formal statement denouncing the perception of a rift between finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and home minister P. Chidambaram

A source in the PMO told The Telegraph: “What more is required when the Prime Minister has said difference of perception should not be seen as rift? The government has more serious work to do than respond to false propaganda on a regular basis.”

Mukherjee, who returned from Calcutta this evening, did not meet the Prime Minister but talked to Chidambaram during the day. Sources said the government’s priority now was to defend Chidambaram in court and that reports of escalating squabbles were highly exaggerated. The government has worked out its defence and will tell the Supreme Court that the finance ministry’s 2G note has no legal value.

A letter written by Mukherjee explaining that the controversial note was a background paper prepared for inter-ministerial reference, in view of court cases and parliamentary committee inquiries, could also be presented in court. The government will tell the court the note cannot be taken as evidence, the sources said, adding that Chidambaram has been taken into confidence on this line of defence.

Mukherjee has already conveyed to the Prime Minister and the Congress president through the four-page letter, as reported in The Telegraph on Tuesday, that the note was prepared as a background paper in consultation with the cabinet secretary and PMO officials.

He clarified his position following speculation about his role and intention in preparing the note as late as March 2011.

Chidambaram was present today at a lunch hosted by Manmohan Singh for former British Prime Minister Tony Blair but did not get an opportunity to discuss the recent controversy. Congress sources, however, indicated top ministers could meet soon and the government would make further clarifications on the 2G note in the next few days.

The Congress asserted during the day that the finance ministry note could not have made any difference to the merits of the 2G case. Party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said: “Whatever happened in spectrum allocation was in 2007 and 2008. A note prepared by anyone cannot alter the facts of the case. Would the BJP have accepted that Chidambaram was completely innocent had the note in question said he had nothing to do with the 2G case?”

“Can any note, prepared or seen by anybody, ipso facto declare somebody guilty or absolve someone? A false propaganda has been built up by the BJP and questions like why Chidambaram is not in jail if Raja is in are outrageous. Does Chidambaram face any charge? Can criticism of a policy or a decision be equated with criminality and illegality? The BJP should let the court decide if Chidambaram has to be investigated instead of mounting a hollow attack,” he said.

Singhvi also blasted the BJP for presenting to the media a verbatim summary of Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy’s arguments in court. Echoing the Prime Minister, who has said the Opposition was trying to force early elections, the Congress spokesperson said the entire propaganda was born out of “the BJP’s frustration, unprincipled politics and naked thirst for power”.

The Congress also confronted the BJP for its endless sermons on the perceived rift between Chidambaram and Mukherjee, recalling the history of dissent and differences between Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L.K. Advani. Singhvi also hinted at strained relations among Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh and Narendra Modi and offered a bargain to the BJP: “If they stop telling lies about us, we will stop telling truths about them.”