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Congress circles are buzzing with speculation about the identity of the person who “leaked” Sonia Gandhi's terse warning on FDI in retail to the press last week. The needle of suspicion points at a junior minister who's locked in a running battle with the author of the policy, commerce minister Kamal Nath. At the same time, Congress sources acknowledge that no-one dare bandy about Gandhi's confidential missives in public without a signal from the top. So, was the letter meant to be a rap on Nath's knuckles? Inquiries reveal that it was written on Jan 11, 2007 and contained four lines cautioning the government to regulate the policy so that the common man is not harmed. Since then, Nath has met Gandhi twice to explain what he’s up to. But the bosses are obviously not satisfied. Now the PMO is breathing down his neck for an answer to the apprehensions voiced by Gandhi.

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The hoopla over FDI in retail is not the only controversy buffeting Nath. He’s in hot water on the SEZ issue as well. Congress circles feel he’s overheated things by the alacrity with which he’s been clearing proposals. At the last count, the figure had crossed 250. That’s staggering in just two-and-a-half years. Or breathtakingly efficient! The bosses are not amused on this one too. Chidambaram has been openly voicing concerns about the financial implications of so many tax-free SEZs. His calculations have put the revenue loss (of the ten-year tax holiday promised in the SEZ policy) at something like Rs. 90,000 crores. That may be an exaggeration but both Gandhi and the PM are said to be worried about the political fallout of the mega land transfers that are going on in the name of SEZs. Since land deals in India tend to be opaque, they fear that the issue has the makings of a first-rate scandal.

The government has slammed on the brakes amid these apprehensions by setting up a group of ministers, headed by Pranab Mukherjee (who else?). Its brief is to review the SEZ policy but the sub-text is a warning to Nath to chill. The irrepressible minister continues to dribble, however. A couple of weeks ago, he telephoned Mukherjee all the way from Davos (where he had gone to attend meetings at the World Economic Forum) to plead with him not to hold up the 63 SEZs that have been notified. The lengthy long distance phone call worked because the GOM has given the nod.

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Nath’s travails may partly be related to the changing equations among Congress leaders from Madhya Pradesh. Till Arjun Singh took to his bed with a pacemaker (he hasn’t attended the last five cabinet meetings because of poor health), he was the common target for Nath, Digvijay Singh, Jyotiraditya Scindia and others from the state. With Singh in decline, Nath has come into focus as Madhya Pradesh’s most prominent face in the government. It’s bash Nath time now and the state lobby leads the way. As one sifts the chaff from the wheat to make sense of the seemingly contradictory voices from the government and the party, it’s pretty clear that the hullabaloo is more about a clash of personalities than of policies, although the idiom of the debate may be coloured by ideology. Shorn of the hype, it means a slowdown in the liberalization process, but not a reversal.

Email: a_jerath@dnaindia.net