Natwar promises to quit once PM is back

NEW DELHI: Cornered minister without portfolio Natwar Singh has promised to resign once Prime Minister Manmohan Singh returns from his Russia visit.
Singh met party president Sonia Gandhi late on Monday evening for about an hour and conveyed his decision to her. He also talked to the Prime Minister on the phone.
Congress sources said Natwar conveyed his decision to quit to Sonia and informed her that he had spoken to the Prime Minister.He was quitting in the larger interest of the party and would hand his resignation once the PM returned from Moscow on Wednesday.
Matters had been building up to such a pass ever since the former external affairs minister's name cropped up in the Volcker report on the oil-for-food scandal.
Natwar finds himself completely isolated within the party, which has had to face much embarrassment apart from an aggressive Opposition that has not allowed Parliament proceedings in the last few days.
Even in the days before former envoy Aneil Matherani's revelations to a news magazine brought the simmering Volcker issue to boiling point, Natwar could be seen cutting a lonely figure in Parliament precincts. After the Matherani statements it's been a spiral down in the fortunes of the veteran Congressman.
Late on Sunday night, Natwar was removed from the Congress steering committee giving an indication of how things would pan out on Monday.
Sure enough, Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal said on Monday that Natwar should take the hint.
Sibal, smirk lurking, said the party had acted and now it was a matter of Natwar reacted. Natwar himself had been holding out till the end, insisting even on Sunday that he would not sacrifice himself.
On Monday, Sonia Gandhi spoke twice to Manmohan Singh on phone and met leaders of her party to decide how best to deal with Natwar.
The party president has repeatedly made clear that the message that goes out from the Congress has to be that it is corruption-free and clean.