The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday hinted at "welcoming" former external affairs minister Natwar Singh into its fold after he quit the Congress.

BJP general secretary Gopinath Munde said this when asked about the presence of Singh at a BJP rally in Jaipur.

Asked whether the party would welcome Singh, Munde said he was "welcome".

Natwar announced his resignation from the Congress in the presence of Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia at a BJP-sponsored

Singh, suspended from the Congress and facing a petition for his disqualification from the Rajya Sabha, quit the Manmohan Singh government after the Volcker Committee findings in the UN oil-for-food scam in which he and his son were named as beneficiaries.