Jaswant resigns as Chairman of Public Accounts Committee

New Delhi: In a surprise move, former Union minister Jaswant Singh Wednesday resigned as Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar's office has confirmed having received the resignation letter, which Singh had delivered to the Speaker personally on Monday. His resignation has since been accepted and it will come into effect from December 31, enabling Singh to complete three reports that the committee is still in the process of finalising.

The PAC is constituted every year to examine accounts of the sums granted by the Parliament for the government's expenditure. The PAC chairman's post is considered prestigious and is traditionally offered to the nominee of the largest opposition party.

Principal opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had nominated Singh for the post in July this year, less than a month before he was expelled from the party for beaching the party ideology by praising Pakistan founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah in his book.

BJP had mounted a pressure on Singh to vacate the post, though he resisted such pressures.

His sudden decision to quit has raised the possibility of his return to the parent party in the light of the fact that he had recently recalled his three-decade-old association with veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani.