02-13-2008, 09:42 PM
Natwar Singh quits Congress
Jaipur (PTI): Former External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh, who had to resign from the government in the wake of the Iraqi food-for-oil scam, announced his resignation from Congress.
He made the announcement in the presence of Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia at a BJP-sponsored Jat rally in Vidyadhar Nagar, 20 km from here, and soon after launched a blistering attack on Sonia Gandhi.
"Wait and see" was all that he would reply to questions on whether he would join the BJP or whether he expects to get a BJP seat to Parliament as his term in Rajya Sabha is coming to an end shortly.
Singh, suspended from the party and facing a petition for his disqualification from Rajya Sabha, quit the Manmohan Singh government after the Volcker Committee findings in the UN oil-for-food scam in which he and his son were named as beneficiaries.
The Pathak Inquiry Authority, set up to go into the findings, found that he had used his position to get oil contracts from the Saddam Hussein regime for his son's friend Andaleeb Sehgal. However, the Authority said Singh did not personally benefit from the deal.
A few months later he was suspended from the party while his son Jagat Singh, an MLA in Rajasthan, was expelled. His case is being dealt with by the Congress disciplinary action committee.