NEW DELHI, 7 December 2005 — Bowing to immense political pressure, Natwar Singh, the former foreign minister, yesterday resigned from the Cabinet in the wake of charges that he and the ruling Congress party had skimmed the UN oil-for-food scheme in Iraq.
“I reiterate that I am completely innocent.... However, I do not wish to be the excuse for opposition to stall the Parliament. Hence I have decided to resign from the union Cabinet,” Natwar told reporters in announcing what was considered an imminent deicision.
Natwar was removed from the Foreign Ministry last month pending an inquiry into a UN report naming him and the Congress party in the scandal. But he remained in the Cabinet as a minister without portfolio.
Lawmakers from the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continued earlier yesterday to block proceedings in Parliament over demands for Natwar’s head. Both houses of Parliament were adjourned just minutes after opposition members walked in loudly demanding Natwar resign immediately.
Natwar’s decision to resign from the Cabinet came a day after he was removed from the Congress Steering Committee, the party’s highest policy-making forum.
Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma said that Natwar Singh was resigning from the Cabinet to “save” the party and government from further “embarrassment,” caused by the “politically-motivated” attacks of the BJP and NDA.
The BJP came under severe attack yesterday for paralyzing the Parliament over the Volcker issue, with the government and its allies accusing it of using the matter to prevent a discussion on major issues and important legislation.
The BJP was accused of disrupting the parliamentary proceedings “under different pretexts” and wasting the “precious time” of Parliament. “It is unfortunate that the opposition has been unrelenting in disrupting Parliament despite several attempts from the government to run the house in a positive atmosphere,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi said.
