Pranab Mukherjee writes to PM, explains 2G note

As the 2G fire rages, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh setting out in detail the events surrounding the controversial allocation of spectrum.

As the 2G fire rages, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh setting out in detail the events surrounding the controversial allocation of spectrum.

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The letter comes in the midst of a controversy triggered by the surfacing of a note from a finance ministry official suggesting that 2G scam could have been avoided by the then finance minister P Chidambaram if had insisted of auction instead of giving licences on 2001 prices.

As Mukherjee, who had met the Prime Minister in New York on Sunday, wrote the letter, Chidambaram met Singh on Wednesday, on his return from the US.

However, sources said Chidambaram was present at a lunch hosted by Singh for former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in which a number of others were present. There was no private meeting between the two, they said.

Mukherjee, who had gone to Kolkata returned here but was unlikely to meet the Prime Minister who will go to Sikkim tomorrow for a survey of the earthquake-affected areas. The meeting may take place on Friday before Mukherjee leaves for Kolkata.

The sources said that there was no interpretation of events in the letter written by Mukherjee.

However, it was not clear whether there was any reference in the letter to the controversial para regarding Chidambaram in the March 25, 2011 note written by a finance ministry official.

The sources said that the March note was prepared as the government felt that all the details regarding 2G spectrum including the letters written by various ministries and file notings be collated in one document.

That was necessary because various departments of the government may not be aware of the position of the other ministries so that the government could take single united stand.

The note was suggested at a time when some sections in the government were speaking in different voices.