NEW DELHI, 8 December 2005 — Union Minister Natwar Singh yesterday handed over his resignation from the Cabinet to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh shortly after he returned from Moscow.
“This is my letter of resignation from the Cabinet as minister without portfolio. It has been a privilege to be a member of your Cabinet,” he said in his letter to the prime minister.
Natwar, in the eye of a storm over his alleged role in an Iraqi oil scam, yesterday met the prime minister soon after he returned from a four-day official trip to Russia and handed him his resignation.
“I met the prime minister and handed him my resignation,” Natwar told reporters after he emerged from the meeting at Manmohan’s 7, Race Course Road official residence.
Responding to persistent questions from reporters whether he had “sacrificed” himself to protect the Congress party and to let Parliament function, Natwar said the Congress and its President Sonia Gandhi have done a lot for him. Maintaining that he was innocent, he said “I am a Congress worker and I will always remain a Congress worker”.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led opposition stalled parliament Monday-Tuesday, calling for Natwar ‘s resignation from his post of minister without portfolio.
The BJP yesterday walked out of the lower house of the Parliament after a harangue from the Congress for demanding the resignation of Sonia.
Congress and allies vehemently criticized the BJP demand, saying it was outrageous to drag the name of Sonia in the name of settling political scores.
Opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders are persisting with their demand that the Congress president should resign as head of the government’s National Advisory Council over the party’s alleged involvement in the scam related to Iraq’s oil-for-food program that took place during the Saddam Hussein regime.
Raising the issue during zero hour, BJP President L.K. Advani expressed his displeasure over the reasons cited by Natwar Singh over his resignation.
‘If Natwar Singh was not at fault, why was he removed? If he was removed, so should Sonia Gandhi,’ Advani demanded.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi said that Advani should not have dragged Sonia’s name into the issue.
‘I never expected Advani to drag Sonia Gandhi’s name into this issue. We have no orbit outside the party to dictate like you. Our leader is not on a transfer order. Your leader is,’ he said.
He went on to say: “Since our leader took office, it has troubled your mind and philosophy. Our leader is leading not only the party but also a progressive movement to demolish the communal forces in the country.”
Basudev Acharya of the Communist Party of India-Marxist, Devinder Prasad Yadav of the Rashtriya Dal and Gurudas Dasgupta appreciated Natwar’s move.
