The crisis afflicting the Congress-led UPA government deepened Monday amid speculation that Union home minister P. Chidambaram had offered to resign during his meeting with Cong-ress president Sonia Gandhi at her 10 Janpath residence following atte-mpts to link him to the 2G spectrum scam.

While the Congress remained silent on the matter, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, who reached New Delhi from the United States earlier in the day, also met Mrs Gandhi on Monday to discuss the ongoing controversy.

Both Mukherjee and Chidambaram are expected to speak on the issue after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh returns to the country on Tuesday night.

Mukherjee had reportedly spoken to Chidambaram from New York, sources said. The Congress president is now expected to try and put a lid on the controversy, which has once again hit the UPA government’s image.

Sources said Chidambaram had expre-ssed “anguish” over the alleged attempts to link him to the multi-crore scam at his meeting with the Congress president. He is also reported to be upset at the way the Prime Minister’s Office had handled the issue, the sources said, particularly the way a finance ministry document was released following an application under the Right to Information Act.

The 2G note prepared by then cabinet secretary K.M. Chandrashekhar, following instructions from the PMO, allegedly stated that Chidambaram, who was then finance minister, had along with former communications minister A. Raja decided on the spectrum price.

Raja, meanwhile, demanded, at a court hearing here on Monday, that Chidambaram should be produced as a witness in the 2G scam trial as he had signed off on all documents on the spectrum issue in his capacity as finance minister.

Mukherjee, who met Sonia Gandhi after she met Chidambaram, is reported to have given clarifications about the contentious 2G note signed by a finance ministry official. Mukherjee also met senior finance ministry officials during the day and went through all the papers relating to the controversial 2G note.

The Congress and its top leaders have till now rallied around the embattled home minister.

Mukherjee also went on record, saying that Chidambaram was a “pillar of strength” and reiterated that he was a “valued colleague”.

2G row gets bigger

* Congress sources said the party leadership was keen to quell the controversy which was giving the government bad publicity and creating an impression of fissure among two of the senior-most ministers.

* Pranab who met Sonia is reported to have given clarifications about the contentious 2G note signed by a finance ministry official. The minister on Monday also went through all the papers relating to the controversial 2G note.

* Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee met the Congress chief separately over the 2G controversy. She is now expected to try and put a lid on the issue.

* CBI seeks life term: CBI filed a fresh plea seeking framing of a charge for criminal breach of trust in the spectrum allocation case against the accused. If convicted, the accused can face a maximum punishment of life term.

*Raja wants PC to be witness: Raja told a Delhi court that Chidambaram should be summoned and examined as a witness to prove the minutes of a Cabinet meeting that cleared the off-loading of shares to two foreign firms