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Indian Minister plays safe, consults PM on new Sethu
affidavit
Having burnt her fingers once in the controversy over the Sethusamundram
issue, Culture Minister Ambika Soni is not leaving anything to chance
as her ministry prepares a fresh affidavit to be filed before the
Supreme Court later this month.
Soni met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday to keep him informed
on the issue. Soni is learnt to have discussed with the PM that
this time around the government should prepare the affidavit with
the Culture Ministry headed by her providing the required inputs.
The minister’s office confirmed the meeting between Soni and
the Prime Minister.
Sources said the meeting was an effort by Soni to keep the PM in
the loop so that, unlike last time, she is not blamed in case something
goes wrong again. Soni had to suffer a major embarrassment after
the Archaeological Survey of India, which functions under the Culture
Ministry, questioned the existence of Lord Rama in its now-withdrawn
affidavit on the Sethusamundram issue before the Supreme Court in
September last year.
Not wanting a repeat of those events, Soni thought best to keep
the head of the government informed.
Without going into the procedural details required into preparing
the fresh affidavit, the Prime Minister is learnt to have suggested
during the meeting that the Cabinet Secretary will consult the secretaries
of ministries concerned before finalising the affidavit that will
be filed by the government. With recent elections results of Uttaranchal,
Punjab, Gujarat and Himachal going in favour of the BJP, which is
now gearing itself to put the Congress in the docks over this sensitive
issue, the government is trying to avoid another political storm.
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