No rift between chief, govt: Pranab

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday sought to downplay an apparent rift between army chief General VK Singh and the government, saying "there were no differences".

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday sought to downplay an apparent rift between army chief General VK Singh and the government, saying "there were no differences".

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"There is no fiasco. It has been explained by the defence minister on the floor of the House," Mukherjee said

when asked to comment on the issue.

Mukherjee's remark came a day after Gen Singh declared that there was no rift between him and defence minister AK Antony over his bribery allegations relating to a truck deal for the army and the leak of a letter written by him to the Prime Minister.

Gen Singh had on Friday accused "rogue elements" of trying to project a "schism" between him and Antony. He said the army and its chief were part of the government.

Antony too had earlier waved the white flag, saying all the three service chiefs enjoyed the government's confidence.

Antony and Gen Singh had condemned the leak of the letter to the Prime Minister as anti-national and high treason respectively.