The war within

Disagreement between two cabinet colleagues is not unheard of in an elected Government

The war within

Disagreement between two cabinet colleagues is not unheard of in an elected Government. But the political controversy over the 'war' between Home Minister P Chidambaram and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has put the entire Congress party on the back foot.

Some in the political circles believe that the 2G scam note, which is making news, must be a deliberate attempt of the faction led by Pranab Mukherjee to implicate P Chidambaram since it will pave the way for nominating the former as prime ministerial candidate of the party instead of Chidambaram.

Many also believe this is Mukherjee's revenge on Chidambaram for the alleged wiretaps that were carried out in the offices of the finance ministry earlier this year. Insiders are now starting to suspect that there is a conspiracy involving BJP/RSS and Subramanian Swamy to indirectly support Mukherjee in his effort to
dominate the affairs of the Congress. Knowingly or unknowingly, Mukherjee has been drawn into this
controversy.

Though Mukherjee made attempts to brush aside the row after initially raising a stink with the prime minister, the simmering differences between him and Chidambaram have now come out in the open. Whatever the reason may be, the BJP is getting fresh ammunition every now and then to target the government. As Sushma Swaraj said, on Wednesday morning, "Congress is falling on its own contradictions and BJP was not responsible for its falling graph."

It is yet to be seen whether Sonia Gandhi manages a truce between two of the tallest leaders of the party. But how long she will be able to keep the warring colleagues at peace remains a big question. The current fiasco may be anybody's doing but with the Congress hitting controversies one after another, it's evident that the grand old party will have to pay the price in the long run.