news details |
|
|
| Justice Pathak exonerates Congress | | Natwar on his way out of his parent organisation | | B L KAK
NEW DELHI, AUG. 7
The Congress supremo, Sonia Gandhi, is reported to have endorsed the idea of showing Natwar Singh the door. On present indications, controversial Natwar Singh may be out of his parent organisation, the Congress, sooner than later.
Just one formality will have to be completed before Natwar Singh is thrown out--that is, a meeting of the Congress Working Committee will be convened to decide on the fate of the former External Affairs Minister. Natwar Singh has erved the Congress party since he left the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) in 1984. He is defiant even while counting his irrecoverable political losses and loss of personal honour.
As a member of the Rajya Sabha representing the Congress party he had the tenacity to be the first signatory in moving a privilege motion against his party's Prime Minister. This act of Natwar Singh has incurred Sonia Gandhi's deep displeasure. Natwar Singh submitted a notice on Friday night to Rajya Sabha Chairman, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, against Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, for what was described as the 'deliberate' leak of Justice R S Pathak's report on the Volcker Committee oil for food inquiry.
Natwar Singh has accused the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government of violating parliamentary norms by revealing the contents of the report to the media even when the monsoon session of Parliament is on. The Pathak Committee report has indicted Natwar Singh and his son, Jagat Singh, a Congress party legislator from Rajasthan, for 'misusing' their position in getting contracts in the United Nations oil for food programme in Iraq during the Saddam Hussein regime.
Justice Pathak has exonerated the Congress party while indicting Natwar Singh and his son for misuse of their position. Both Natwar Singh and the Congress party were described as 'non-contractual beneficiaries' in the Volcker report that went into allegations of kickbacks in the oil contracts. Natwar Singh believes that the Pathak report was deliberately leaked to malign him.
The privilege motion has sent the signal that before he quits the party or is suspended from the Congress, Natwar Singh wants to inflict maximum damage to his party, and particularly to Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. Natwar Singh believes the Prime Minister has not kept his promise to conduct a fair investigation. Particularly, he was led to believe that he would not be hounded by the Enforcement Directorate.
A section of Delhi's politcal class is of the view that the weight of his (Natwar Singh's) vanity over the years is drowning him. On the other hand, Natwar Singh believes that the pro-United States lobby in his party is behind his downfall. Be that as it may, his grouse is fodder for the Communist and other Opposition parties.
His relationship with Sonia Gandhi snapped as soon as the Volcker report appeared, and subsequent events have revealed that the Congress president has not had a change of heart over him. Natwar Singh seems to be aware of this and that is why he has resorted to a bigger gamble. His critcs in the Congress point out that when he saw the Enforcement Directorate, at the insistence of Finance Minister, P Chidambaram, was active in getting to the bottom of his and Jagat Singh's alleged involvement in the oil-for-food scam in Iraq, he resorted to building up momentum against the proposed India-US nuclear deal.
And Congressmen allege that Natwar Singh is briefing leaders of the Communist parties, the Samajwadi Party, even the BJP's Yashwant Sinha, a former External Affairs Minister, over the proposed nuclear treaty. Natwar Singh is ideally placed to speak on the nuclear issue because as the then External Affairs Minister he was the one of the lead actors behind the July 18, 2005 agreement.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
