Though no official reaction from the Rashtrapati Bhavan is likely on this issue, knowledgeable quarters confided that President Narayanan is not taking kindly `to this kind of a deliberate attempt' on the part of some interested quarters in the PMO to drive a wedge between the highest functionaries of the government.

Through the leak of the letter, the interested quarters in the PMO want to convince the President that the deal worked out for the benefit of the telecom companies was not taken in a hurry to beat the EC notification. Rather, the decision to shift to revenue sharing formula, currently in the eye of the storm, was a follow up of the new telecom policy approved by the cabinet and placed before Parliament.

The President had expressed reservationson the telecom package approved by the Union Cabinet on July 6, just hours before the Election Commission issued the poll notification schedule barring the government from taking policy decisions.

The President is especially peeved because his earlier letter to Prime Minister Vajpayee on this subject curiously found way to select media persons a few days ago.

The President had written to the Prime Minister that the telecom package be put in abeyance as it was improper for a caretaker government to take a decision which entailed a revenue loss of about Rs 1000 crore this fiscal alone.

The Presidential letter followed a widespread concern among the Opposition parties which had submitted confidential papers to him making their point of objection clear.

Significantly, even the finance ministry and former communications minister Jagmohan too had opposed the bailout package offered to the telecom companies. Jagmohan had been especially called by Narayanan to brief him on the subject.

Considering the turnof events leading to President-PM tussle on important issues, knowledgeable circles on Tuesday expressed concern and said a flashpoint between the two constitutional functionaries looked inevitable if no corrective action was taken immediately.

It is being widely surmised that some overzealous middle-level officials in the PMO were allegedly leaking out secrets to push a particular point of view.