Pranab, Chidambaram had a working difference: Khurshid

Prompted by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, union law minister Salman Khurshid on Sunday sought to clear the air on perceived differences and mutual antipathy between union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and home minister P Chidambaram.

The controversy arose after a note from the finance ministry to the prime minister's office apparently said that Chidambaram, formerly the finance minister, could have prevented the cheap sale of 2G spectrum by insisting on an auction, but failed to do so.

In a TV interview, Khurshid admitted that the there were ''working differences'' between the two ministers, but said these had been vastly exaggerated by the media. ''Let me just tell you this, I don't think that there was a vast difference between the two of them,'' he said.

He added that there was nothing wrong with Gandhi stepping in to put an end to the controversy. Gandhi ''certainly desired that the press should not make a meal out of something that may be like a working difference, disagreement you have in daily working ... and I think she was absolutely justified in expecting that we would quickly put the matter to rest.''

Strongly defending Chidambaram, Khurshid said he had always spoken in favour of auction of spectrum, and had not changed his stand at any time. However, it was a cabinet decision to sell spectrum on a first come, first served basis, and Chidambaram alone could not counter it.

''Chidambaram, even after the cabinet decision, continued to argue for auction,'' Khurshid said. ''Could Chidambaram alone have overturned the cabinet decision once the cabinet had decided against auction?''