Ministerial matters

Top government managers spent a lot of time last week to “interpret” Home Minister P Chidambaram’s statement on Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee. After the firebrand Trinamool Congress chief dubbed the encounter of Naxaite leader Azad a “murder,” Chidambaram had to face Parliament to clarify the stand of the government. Banerjee, sitting in Kolkata, was initially under the impression that the home minister had criticised her and, top sources suggested, even threatened to resign from the Cabinet. Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary, Ahmed Patel, Finance Minister Pranab Mukhejree and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal, among others, got into the fire-fighting mode and conveyed to Banerjee what the home minister “actually” said.