Former External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh, who had to resign from the government in the wake of the Iraqi food-for-oil scam, on Wednesday announced his resignation from the Congress.
Natwar made the announcement in the presence of Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia at a Bharatiya Janata Party-sponsored Jat rally in Vidyadhar Nagar. He also launched a blistering attack on Sonia Gandhi.
"Wait and see," he told newsmen, who were eager to know if he expects to get a BJP seat in Parliament, as his term in Rajya Sabha is coming to an end shortly.
"My father has quit the Congress party," Natwar's son Jagat told rediff.com.
Asked about Natwar's future course of action, Jagat said that his father would decide this shortly. " I am only a follower," he said.
The Central Bureau of Investigation had registered cases against Jagat and his business partners.
The Pathak Inquiry Authority, set up to go into the scam, had found that Natwar had used his position to get oil contracts from the Saddam Hussein regime for his son's friend Andaleeb Sehgal. However, the Authority said Singh did not personally benefit from the deal.
A few months later, Natwar was suspended from the party while his son Jagat Singh, a member of the Legislative Assembly in Rajasthan, was expelled. The Congress disciplinary action committee is dealing with his case.
