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Journalism of Courage
Union Law Minister H R Bharadwaj today said that Congress president Sonia Gandhi can call for any Government file because, as UPA chairperson, she has been accorded Cabinet rank status.
The Law Minister told The Indian Express that the real purpose of conferring her with Cabinet rank status was to ensure no one objects to her accessing files.
As UPA chairperson, Sonia was responsible for coordinating with allies and ensuring implementation of the CMP, Bharadwaj said.
‘‘If the Left parties or any of the allies are dissatisfied over implementation of the CMP, she can ask for files relating to that particular Ministry,’’ he said.
The Law Minister maintained that there were no two power centres. While Manmohan Singh would run the Government, he said Sonia Gandhi would discharge the overall responsibility of running the coalition as UPA chairperson.
‘‘It is she who brought the party to power and is the only unifying force in the party,’’ he said.
Bharadwaj’s remarks came on the day all Cabinet ministers received letters from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, urging his colleagues to follow the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP) as the Bible for governance.
‘‘This will be the bedrock of the agenda for the government… the highest priority would need to be assigned to the formulation of programmes and schemes in accordance with the NCMP and to their implementation,’’ the PM wrote.
‘‘We have to work in a realistic manner as a team… I will need your support and guidance in the Cabinet to ensure that essential objectives of the NCMP are fulfilled…’’.
In a separate letter to all his Cabinet colleagues, the PM asked them to formally call on Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.
He has asked ministers to identify ‘‘core areas’’ in the NCMP relating to each ministry and to submit a report on how each ministry would like to execute its plans.
Singh has also directed ministries to evaluate the availability of financial resources, which would help implement the NCMP. The letter carries a note of caution — ‘‘fulfilling of objectives of the NCMP will have to be done without leading to undue financial drain on our resources.’’
Asking each ministry to frame an institutional set-up for ‘‘strict monitoring’’ of the programme, Singh noted: ‘‘Every effort needs to be made to fulfill the promises embedded in NCMP in a timebound, transparent and sincere manner.’’
