Patil

New Delhi, Sept. 15: Shivraj Patil’s job is not on the line, at least for now, despite the barrage of criticism within and outside the Congress over his inept handling of terrorism, party sources said today.

If the home minister is sacked now, the move would seem to have come under BJP pressure, the sources said.

Spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi summed up the mood, saying: “In such serious times, raising issues like Patil’s resignation belittles the gravity of the situation. How many times should (L.K.) Advani have resigned when he was the NDA’s home minister?”

Patil’s colleagues, however, privately savaged him for coming across as “indecisive” and “inadequately reactive” after every terror strike. He has been discreetly told to emulate finance minister P. Chidambaram, grappling with a host of crises but exuding a sense of being on top of his job.

“In a similar situation, Patil seems to crumble,” said a minister, who added that he winced every time TV showed the home minister, dressed as if he were headed for the ramp, on the day of the Delhi blasts. Patil has been blasted by the media — and the BJP has called for his head — because he kept changing from one elegant suit to another through Saturday.

Congress sources, however, felt it would be “unfair” to sack Patil and let off national security adviser M.K. Narayanan who, they think, should have focused more on internal security than on the nuclear deal.

However, once the dust kicked up by the blasts has settled, the Prime Minister could consider a cabinet shuffle that might see Patil out, the sources said.

Earlier, speculation on Patil’s imminent exit was fuelled by reports that he had been left out of a meeting called by Sonia Gandhi this morning to review the security situation. Congress sources denied Patil was not called and said he was preoccupied with ministerial meetings.

Later, rumours of UPA allies pressuring Sonia to drop Patil swirled after the railway minister met her. Lalu Prasad, however, cleared the air saying the home minister alone could not be blamed for the terror attacks.

The Samajwadi Party’s Amar Singh said: “More heinous attacks took place when Advani was home minister.”

Patil, however, committed another gaffe in a TV interview as he tried to dismiss the claim that the Centre had ignored terror intelligence from Narendra Modi. “It (information) was available with us… but what was not available was the timing, the place and the method to be used…. (The) Centre knew about it even before Modi met the PM.”

He also brushed aside speculation that he would be asked to step down, saying: “Well, I have (the) full blessings of my leader (Sonia).”