The controversial March 25, 2011 note released by the PMO under the Right to Information Act (RTI) had set off a crisis in the UPA with Pranab Mukherjee being seen as responsible for putting his predecessor P. Chidambaram on the spot by saying that the latter as finance minister could have stopped A Raja’s sale of under-priced spectrum by insisting on an auction. Now it turns out, as Mr Pranab Mukherjee mentions in his letter of September 26, 2011 to the Prime Minister, that this controversial note was "revised" after consultation with the Cabinet Secretariat and the PMO.
Mr Muherjee goes on to say that the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) was "not in favour of sending the note after its finalisation through a formal OM (office memorandum). It was upon the insistence of JS (Joint Secretary), PMO through her phone calls to Secretary, DEA that the communication was sent through a formal OM on March 25, 2011."
Many analysts see this as an attempt on the part of the PMO -- and not Mr Mukherjee, as was earlier sought to be made out -- to put the blame on Mr Chidambaram, and distance the PMO from the 2G scam, so that the PM's inability to rein in the DMK ministers in charge of telecom did not come into the limelight.
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Mr Mukherjee's letter of September 26, 2011 setting the record straight follows:
