Ex-minister Natwar Singh quits India Parliament evading disqualification

New Delhi: Former foreign minister K. Natwar Singh has resigned as a lawmaker.

Singh had quit the ruling Congress party on February 12. His decision to resign the seat in the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of Parliament, is seen as a move to pre-empt disqualification.

Singh submitted his resignation to Rajya Sabha Chairman Mohammad Hamid Ansari about six weeks before his six-year tenure is scheduled to expire in the Upper House.

Considered a loyalist of the Gandhi-Nehru family, Singh became a burden for the Congress party after his name got involved in the Iraqi oil for food scam.

The party did not come to his aid and he was forced to step down as foreign minister in November 2005.

Scandal

He was subsequently suspended from the party in August 2006 after Justice R.S. Pathak panel indicted him in the multi-million-dollar scandal.

His decision to resign from the primary membership of the Congress party came even as his expulsion was a certainty following his campaigning against the party during last year's assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.

The party's disciplinary committee, headed by Defence Minister A.K. Antony, was yet to take a final decision about his expulsion. Emerging from the gigantic Parliament House following his meeting with Ansari, Singh said that he was yet to make up his mind about which party to join.

Singh had initially joined hands with the Samajwadi Party of Uttar Pradesh and even campaigned for the party during the state elections. Of late, however, he has come closer to the Bharatiya Janata Party, which rules his home state Rajasthan.

It is widely believed that it is just a matter of time before he formally joins the BJP. He had announced his decision to quit the party from a BJP dais in the presence of Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia. It is highly unlikely that the BJP would nominate him for another term in the Rajya Sabha when the biennial Rajya Sabha polls are held in April. Chances of Singh being asked to contest his traditional Alwar Lok Sabha seat of Rajasthan are high.