New Delhi, Hyderabad: Hours after he met Home Minister P Chidambaram as a peace offering, sources in Jairam Ramesh's party say that while he has been reprimanded, he will not be asked to exit the government for now.
Ramesh has, instead, been told by the Congress high command to stop speaking out of turn, and to "stay within party limits."
In China last week, Ramesh, who is the Environment Minister, said Chinese companies looking to enter India were being met with "alarmist" and "paranoid" policies of the Home Ministry.
An unhappy Chidambaram wrote to the Prime Minister about Ramesh's remarks. Ramesh was reprimanded by the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi for speaking out of turn. The Congress also publicly censured him.
Ramesh met Chidambaram on Wednesday evening for ten minutes in what was seen as a make-good attempt.
And on Thursday morning, Ramesh attended a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office, a sign of business as usual. Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed says , "This is a closed chapter."
But Ramesh's quota of fire-fighting may not yet have been exhausted. His term in the Rajya Sabha expires in June; he is currently an MP from Andhra Pradesh. His re-nomination could be a tough battle. On record, partymen from Andhra Pradesh are discrete. Varaprasad, the state party leader, says, "Rajya Sabha selection... is pure discretion of the high command."
But privately, sources in the Andhra Congress say that Ramesh has "neglected" Andhra's interests. A major strike against him: he didn't manage the environmental clearances for the Polavaram irrigation project in the West Godavari district. Like several other irrigation projects stalled in Andhra Pradesh, this one is desperate for cash, and the state government was hoping that the Centre would chip in with funds if the project was granted national status. That hasn't happened. Jairam has also not okayed the "YSR Smriti Vanam" - a memorial in the Nallamala forests for YSR Reddy, the Chief Minister who died in a helicopter crash in September in this region.
The BJP has asked for Ramesh to be fired, attacking him for working as a lobbyist. The Opposition justifies that allegation because Ramesh's remarks in China were made in the context of the attempts of a Chinese company, Huawei, that wants to import and install telecom equipment in India.
In addition to comments that could be seen as pushing the agenda of one corporate, Ramesh left the government in the embarrassing position of having its policies criticized abroad, a practice avoided even by Opposition leaders.