Cabinet issues not for public debate: Pranab
Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, when asked to comment on home minister P. Chidambaram’s remark that he had a “limited mandate” to deal with the Maoist menace, said while the matter would be discussed by the Cabinet, there “cannot be a public debate” matter.
Speaking in a television interview, Mr Mukherjee also said: “But in what context the home minister made these observations ... he is the best person to explain it.”
When asked if he felt Mr Chidambaram should explain why he went public about the differences within the Cabinet on the Naxalite issue, the finance minister replied: “I am saying that in what context what he said... he is in a better position to explain about it... These things we do not share in public, these things are not to be shared in public.”
Speaking to interviewer Karan Thapar on news channel CNN-IBN, Mr Mukherjee went on to say: “Whatever decision is taken in the Cabinet, I may have a view... I express my views in the Cabinet alone, or in the appropriate committee of the Cabinet, and thereafter I go by the decision.”
He added: “I am not the person to explain and air my views which are different from the decision taken (by) the Cabinet.”
Asked if the country should be worried about the Maoist threat, with senior ministers not in agreement, Mr Mukherjee said: “I don’t think there is any reason to be worried... Nobody in the Cabinet has said we should not take action against the terrorists and the Naxalites.”
On differences of opinion in the Cabinet, the finance minister said: “I don’t want to make any comment on what my distinguished colleague said... But this much I can tell, in discussions in the Cabinet... various persons may give their views, that is nothing unusual.”
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