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I don't know the mole's name: Jaswant

      New Delhi: Giving a new twist to the whole 'US mole in the PMO' controversy, former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh on Monday said that he had no further information to give on the matter after handing over letters in his possesion to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. Singh told members of the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament) today that he has mentioned in the letter that he conveyed all that he had on the issue to the PM, and added that he had also forwared a note to the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and the country's Vice-President, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, saying that he is willing to make a statement in the Upper House on the issue if required. "I am willing to respond to any query that the honourable members of this House have but if the queries are to be answered, may I request Sir that the queries be raised in an orderly manner at an appropriate time that you can decide. I have no difficulty whatsoever in responding to anything that the House wishes to have clarification but I do wish to because it is a serious issue," Jaswant Singh said. "I had not intended to, I do not intend it to be sentsationalised. I appeal to the House that raise your queries by all means and do me the courtesy by listening to what I have to say and also restrain. Any time that you decide, in any session that you decide, whatever queries are raised I am ready to answer all of them,"he added.

    The Chairman of the Rajya Sabha has said that there can be a discussion in the house later on Monday. The controversy arose a few weeks ago when Jaswant Singh mentioned in his recent book A Call to Honour that there was a mole in the PMO under the tenure of former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao who leaked sensitive information to the United States. The Prime Minister's Office rebuffed this view on Sunday by saying that the letter given by Jaswant Singh mentioned no names and gave no clues. The Prime Minister pointed out that the letter was not original and it was unsigned. It was not written on a letterhead and also did not disclose any information. The question is, does Jaswant really know anything about the mole, and if so, will that revelation embarrass the UPA government? The government is not exactly sitting pretty. The letter forwarded by Jaswant Singh does highlight the US' interest in India's nuclear intentions. The UPA government is worried that an adverse political fallout may cast a shadow on the Indo-US nuclear deal. Dr. Singh has asked Jaswant Singh to disclose in public if he has any further information on this issue. "If you have any further information in this regard you may wish to disclose it to the public," Dr. Singh wrote in the letter.

    Earlier on Saturday, Jaswant Singh had said that he had named the mole in a letter to the Prime Minister after he failed to get an appointment from him on this issue. Denying media reports that any such names have been referred in the letter, Media Advisor of Prime Minister, Sanjay Baru said: "Jaswant Singh`s letter to the Prime Minister was no different from what he has already shared with the media," adding that a copy of the letter has already been published in the latest issue of India Today.

Jaswant's letter may cast a cloud on nuke deal

     New Delhi: The Indo-US nuclear deal could turn out to be the unassuming victim of the 'mole' controversy generated by Jaswant Singh's book "A call to honour". The letter which was given by the former External Affairs Minister to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and was said to contain the name of the person who leaked nuclear secrets to US contains references of US administration's keen interest in India's nuclear technology. The same letter which has been published in the latest edition of India Today had the 'senior American diplomat based in India" writing to a US Senator in 1995 that: "We both agreed that an Indo-US agreement, to possibly with one of the nuclear weapon laboratories, to focus on energy cooperation (not mentioning nuclear one or the other) might be a positive step." On Sunday, Sanjay Baru, the media advisor of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, had clarified that Jaswant Singh's letter to Dr. Singh did not contain the name of the mole and that it was the same letter which has been published by the weekly magazine. However, the reference of the nuclear energy cooperation termed 'historic' now getting discussed by the US administration as early as 1995 may deal a blow to the ongoing legislation in US about ratifying the nuclear deal. The opposition and the Left parties who have already expressed their concerns on the deal and have been demanding a debate in the Parliament in this regard could now get strengthened with the publication of this letter.

Jaswant's Frankenstein may just fall flat

      New Delhi: The week-long high-voltage 'mole' drama entering its climax may turn out to be a complete squib as former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh is now being hounded by his own created controversy that found its origin from his recently released book "A call to honour". The controversy, which took the shape of a Frankenstein unfolded a week earlier from the 15, Teen Murti lane, the residence of Jaswant Singh and quickly moved into news channel studios. Today, as he entered the Rajya Sabha after getting the royal snub from the Prime Ministers Office, the very place where Jaswant said the US mole was during the P V Narasimha Rao's regime, Jaswant Singh looked a most harried Leader of Opposition of Parliament's Upper House, literally searching for a tangible explanation. Doing a complete turnaround, Jaswant told Parliament that he had sent a written response to Dr. Singh, adding that he did not know the name of any informant in Narasimha Rao's PMO.

    As Singh may today sit and reflect on the upheavals of the past week, a lot of water has already flowed under the bridge, and in a most telling manner, this veteran of many a political battle of the past 30 years, is now being questioned on characteristics like `courage' and 'decency', besides providing ideal fodder for a news-starved media. Jaswant first told media persons that India's nuclear secrets were being passed to the US by a person who was attached with the PMO when PV Narasimha Rao was the Prime Minister. What followed was a desperate hunt by the media to track the US 'mole' down. With Jaswant giving 'specific inputs' that the person was a bureaucrat and lacked any influence in present administration, speculations began rising. It landed at the Bangalore doorstep of V.S.Arunachalam, the former Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister, only for him and Jaswant to deny his role in it. The rising rumour mongering that gripped Raisina Hills led the reticent Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to challenge Jaswant to tell the name if "he had decency and courage".

    In the meantime, it was the 50,000 copies of his book that went off the shelves that brought a little cheer to the BJP leader who is now earned the wrath of is own partymen. An emergency siren for the party itself as it now is placed on the backfoot over a national security issue. Questions are being asked as to why the former Minister did not apprise about the 'informant' to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee when he had the specific 'letter'. Even Prime Minister Singh in his letter to Jaswant has expressed 'surprise', on why the latter did not share it with his 'predecessor'. Politics apart, questions are being raised as to why Jaswant chose to maintain this suspense over the so called mole. According to intelligence experts and analysts, the entire letter may just turn out to be a forged document since officials do not correspond about their moles in such ways. Sources in the BJP said that Jaswant has been asked by the party leadership to end the issue as early as possible since it is hurting the party's interest. Will his statement in the Parliament bring an end to his Frankenstein? The final word is still awaited.

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