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Sonia steps in to quell war, meets Pranab, Chidambaram

NEW DELHI: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi stepped in to quell factional fires, with senior ministers Pranab Mukherjee and P Chidambaram meeting her on Monday evening in what seems an effort to put a lid on the damaging controversy over a finance ministry note on 2G spectrum. With the finance ministry note suggesting home minister P Chidambaram - in his role as finance minister in UPA-1 -- failed to check ex-telecom minister A Raja giving the 2G scam a fresh political twist, the Congress president was forced to act despite still recovering from a surgery. After Mukherjees discussions with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New York on Sunday, his meeting Sonia just after Chidambaram called on her is clearly intended to put an end to the impression of a raging factional war between the two top ministers. Indicating that he would not like to trade charges, the finance minister reiterated that he saw Chidambaram as a valued colleague and a pillar of strength ahead of meeting Sonia. The words are conciliatory and Sonias intervention should mean that no one will fall out of line and differences are not likely to be aired in public although they are not likely to vanish. There were reports that a miffed Chidambaram offered to quit. This was denied by well-placed sources but the home minister has made no secret of his view that he feels he is the wronged party. However, he was in good spirits at a meeting of a group of ministers on media on Monday and did not seem in a quitting mode. The 2G note that surfaced as part of 2G litigant Subramanian Swamys case in the Supreme Court has been widely interpreted in Congress circles as part of a factional war in which Mukherjee and Chidambaram are ranged on opposite sides.

                                                                                                               
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