NEW DELHI, 6 December 2005 — The Congress party dropped beleaguered Natwar Singh from its powerful steering committee yesterday and his party colleagues obliquely asked him to resign over the Iraqi oil scam, even as the opposition stepped up its offensive against Congress President Sonia Gandhi over the party’s alleged role in the affair.
The Parliament was stalled for the entire day with the opposition demanding action against the guilty in the oil scam and there were indications a similar situation could prevail today.
On his part, Natwar Singh, who had to quit his external affairs portfolio after being named as a beneficiary in Iraq’s oil-for-food program, appeared to be in no mood to give up.
Yesterday, son Jagat Singh was fielded before reporters and he declared: “We are surprised that in this day and age, a witchhunt is being launched. An inquiry is already on. We will not let ourselves be sacrificial goats.”
The mood in the Congress party and government was made amply clear by Minister of State for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal and party General Secretary Ambika Soni urging Natwar Singh, now a minsiter without portfolio, to read the writing on the wall before it was too late.
“For sensible people, a hint is enough,” Sibal told reporters outside Parliament House, a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was not averse to accepting Natwar’s resignation.
Asked whether he was suggesting that Natwar quit as minister without portfolio, a post he was shifted to after being divested of the External Affairs Ministry, Sibal retorted: “These are big people. They should understand a hint.”
“What is the message that comes through by removing him from the Congress steering committee? That it is untenable for Natwar Singh to continue,” he said.
“The message is clear. It can’t be clearer,” Sibal maintained.
“Every individual should decide on their course of action,” said Congress general secretary Ambika Soni. Her response came when asked if she thought it inappropriate for Natwar to continue even after he was removed from the Congress steering committee, a key decision- making body.
“It’s not a question of what I think or what you think. It’s a question of what the individual (concerned) thinks,” Soni added.
On its part, the opposition stepped up the ante, making it known that it would not be satisfied with only Natwar’s head.
Maintaining that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) “has made the issue murkier and the situation slippery,” opposition leader L.K. Advani said Sonia Gandhi also should step down as National Advisory Council (NAC) chairperson till the probe into the episode is over.
Former Chief Justice R.S. Pathak has been asked to probe the allegations in the report by UN official Paul Volcker that Natwar and the Congress benefited from the $64 million Iraqi oil-for-food scam.
“The government is going berserk over the issue. The present mood in the government is to put the entire blame on one person and save the party,” Advani maintained.
“You cannot have double standards for two people. If Natwar Singh was removed, Gandhi also should step down as NAC chairperson,” he demanded.
Though the Congress received vocal support in the Lok Sabha from its allies to shout down opposition MPs, only the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) said it did not support demand for Natwar’s resignation.
— With input from IANS
