| The two leaders joined Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh who said yesterday that if he had been a Cabinet minister, he would have quit for making such an observation. |
| At the same time, at least two top leaders in the Congress ""Digvijay Singh and Salman Khurshid "" came out in support of Soni and said she need not resign, indicating that what began as a controversy over the political ramifications of a religious issue, had turned into politics of intrigue within the party. |
| The Congress also tried to maintain a delicate balance: to save Soni and at the same time not ruffle the feathers of a large section which is against her. Party spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi termed the remarks by Dhawan and others as "personal comments". |
| "The party has not taken any view or decision regarding the matter (Soni's resignation)," he said. However, in a bid to diffuse tension and to try and take a neutral position, Singhvi said, "Since Congress is a large, democratic party, spectrum of shades of personal opinion is not at all surprising." |
| Dhawan is a Congress veteran who has been given charge of the Congress in Himachal Pradesh. He was made general secretary when Ambika Soni was relieved of her charge as political secretary to the Congress president in 2003. Subhash Yadav is the party chief in Madhya Pradesh where the party is fighting a deeply entrenched BJP. |
| Meanwhile, AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa, who opposed the Sethusamudram project pursued by her arch-rival DMK, has told senior BJP leader L K Advani that she will not be available in Chennai for their planned meeting this week. "She said she would be leaving Chennai today for a week," a senior BJP leader, whose party is exploring options for possible new alliances, said. |
| Advani is due to visit Tamil Nadu on September 19. |
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