12-04-2005, 09:54 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Surjewala contradicts Jagat Singh's claim</b>
NDTV Correspondent
Sunday, December 4, 2005 (New Delhi):
In a new twist to the Volcker controversy, former Youth Congress President Randeep Singh Surjewala has said that no Youth Congress delegation was ever cleared by him to go to Iraq.
Speaking to NDTV, Surjewala said that no one had approached him for permission to lead a Youth Congress delegation to Iraq.
Former external affairs minister Natwar Singh's son Jagat Singh had claimed that he had gone twice to Iraq as member of the Youth Congress.
<b>"I went twice. The first time with my father who was leading a Congress delegation to renew ties with the Baath party. On my first trip, I had gone as a member of the Youth Congress and got in touch with youth leaders over there," </b>Jagat Singh said.
<b>Jagat Singh under scanner</b>
On Saturday, the former Iraqi ambassador to India Salah al Mukhtar told NDTV that Jagat Singh and two others had been given a visa as part of a Youth Congress delegation.
"Natwar Singh requested me to get a visa for his son as head of a youth delegation of the Congress party and that he would like to show his solidarity," Mukhtar said.
"Well, it was a separate visit by his son. He headed a youth delegation to meet the Iraqi Youth Federation," he added.
He said Jagat Singh came to the embassy with two other people, saying they were also part of the Youth Congress delegation.
The former ambassador however says he does not remember who these two other people were.
<b>Contradictions within</b>
The big question now is whether Jagat Singh and his friend Andaleeb Sehgal had visited Iraq with the Congress delegation in 2001.
However, every member of the controversial Congress delegation seems to have a different answer to that question.
<b>A R Antulay, former Maharashtra chief minister who was part of the delegation, told NDTV that he doesn't remember seeing Natwar Singh's son</b>.
"I saw him neither in the delegation nor anywhere that we went," said Antulay.
But fellow traveller and former Congress leader P Shiv Shankar had an entirely different set of memories of the trip.
He remembers both Jagat Singh and Andy Sehgal travelling with them till Jordan, but not after that.
"Thereafter we went to Baghdad by car. I'm not sure whether they followed us till Baghdad, but they were there in Jordan," said Shiv Shankar.
"I never saw Andaleeb and Jagat in Iraq," he added.
The former Congress leader also said he will depose before the Pathak commission, if and when he is summoned.
<b>Differing statements</b>
Jagat Singh himself maintains he went as a Youth Congress member though the Congress party has not commented on whether any such delegation was officially sanctioned.
But this is contradicted by Antulay, who says there is no question of any separate Youth Congress delegation being in Iraq at the same time as them.
"There was no other delegation. There was only one delegation headed by Natwar Singh and Aniel Matherani," maintains Antulay.
Ironically, Natwar Singh also contradicts his son's version. He says Jagat Singh simply came along as his son.
"My son came with me. He'd come with me in 1985 when I'd gone to open a railway line. There's no bar against my son accompanying me," said Natwar Singh.
<b>Questions remain</b>
<b>And in another piece in the missing puzzle, Union Minister Subodh Kant Sahay, who is said to have visited Iraq five times, admitted he went to Iraq in 2001, but said it was not as a member of the Congress party.</b>
He represented his NGO called Non Aligned Youth and Students' Organisation (NAYSO) that works in countries like Palestine, Malaysia and a few others, and has been associated with this NGO since the early 90s.
"Who remembers everyone? There were so many Indians in Baghdad. I don't remember any such person," said Sahay.
<b>But questions still remain unanswered whether Andy Sehgal accompanied Jagat Singh to Iraq, whether he was present at meetings with Tariq Aziz and whether he and Jagat clinched the oil contract.</b>
With more and more contradictions emerging every day, the evidence is adding up against the former foreign minister and his family.
And every member of the delegation, including Aniel Matherani, may have a lot to answer for.
www.ndtv.com/template/tem...y=National <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
NDTV Correspondent
Sunday, December 4, 2005 (New Delhi):
In a new twist to the Volcker controversy, former Youth Congress President Randeep Singh Surjewala has said that no Youth Congress delegation was ever cleared by him to go to Iraq.
Speaking to NDTV, Surjewala said that no one had approached him for permission to lead a Youth Congress delegation to Iraq.
Former external affairs minister Natwar Singh's son Jagat Singh had claimed that he had gone twice to Iraq as member of the Youth Congress.
<b>"I went twice. The first time with my father who was leading a Congress delegation to renew ties with the Baath party. On my first trip, I had gone as a member of the Youth Congress and got in touch with youth leaders over there," </b>Jagat Singh said.
<b>Jagat Singh under scanner</b>
On Saturday, the former Iraqi ambassador to India Salah al Mukhtar told NDTV that Jagat Singh and two others had been given a visa as part of a Youth Congress delegation.
"Natwar Singh requested me to get a visa for his son as head of a youth delegation of the Congress party and that he would like to show his solidarity," Mukhtar said.
"Well, it was a separate visit by his son. He headed a youth delegation to meet the Iraqi Youth Federation," he added.
He said Jagat Singh came to the embassy with two other people, saying they were also part of the Youth Congress delegation.
The former ambassador however says he does not remember who these two other people were.
<b>Contradictions within</b>
The big question now is whether Jagat Singh and his friend Andaleeb Sehgal had visited Iraq with the Congress delegation in 2001.
However, every member of the controversial Congress delegation seems to have a different answer to that question.
<b>A R Antulay, former Maharashtra chief minister who was part of the delegation, told NDTV that he doesn't remember seeing Natwar Singh's son</b>.
"I saw him neither in the delegation nor anywhere that we went," said Antulay.
But fellow traveller and former Congress leader P Shiv Shankar had an entirely different set of memories of the trip.
He remembers both Jagat Singh and Andy Sehgal travelling with them till Jordan, but not after that.
"Thereafter we went to Baghdad by car. I'm not sure whether they followed us till Baghdad, but they were there in Jordan," said Shiv Shankar.
"I never saw Andaleeb and Jagat in Iraq," he added.
The former Congress leader also said he will depose before the Pathak commission, if and when he is summoned.
<b>Differing statements</b>
Jagat Singh himself maintains he went as a Youth Congress member though the Congress party has not commented on whether any such delegation was officially sanctioned.
But this is contradicted by Antulay, who says there is no question of any separate Youth Congress delegation being in Iraq at the same time as them.
"There was no other delegation. There was only one delegation headed by Natwar Singh and Aniel Matherani," maintains Antulay.
Ironically, Natwar Singh also contradicts his son's version. He says Jagat Singh simply came along as his son.
"My son came with me. He'd come with me in 1985 when I'd gone to open a railway line. There's no bar against my son accompanying me," said Natwar Singh.
<b>Questions remain</b>
<b>And in another piece in the missing puzzle, Union Minister Subodh Kant Sahay, who is said to have visited Iraq five times, admitted he went to Iraq in 2001, but said it was not as a member of the Congress party.</b>
He represented his NGO called Non Aligned Youth and Students' Organisation (NAYSO) that works in countries like Palestine, Malaysia and a few others, and has been associated with this NGO since the early 90s.
"Who remembers everyone? There were so many Indians in Baghdad. I don't remember any such person," said Sahay.
<b>But questions still remain unanswered whether Andy Sehgal accompanied Jagat Singh to Iraq, whether he was present at meetings with Tariq Aziz and whether he and Jagat clinched the oil contract.</b>
With more and more contradictions emerging every day, the evidence is adding up against the former foreign minister and his family.
And every member of the delegation, including Aniel Matherani, may have a lot to answer for.
www.ndtv.com/template/tem...y=National <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->