Natwar moves privilege breach notice against PM

Cong dares Natwar to press leak notice, even as SP, TDP, AIADMK and BJP line up to give similar notices against PM.

Former External affairs minister K Natwar Singh will invite disciplinary action from the Congress if he goes ahead with his notice for breach of privilege against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the leak of the Justice RS Pathak Inquiry Authority report.

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The inquiry report, which is believed to have found Natwar and his son Jagat guilty of misusing positions to secure contracts in the Iraqi oil-for-food programme, and the ATR will be tabled in Parliament on Monday after the cabinet clears them.

Natwar's notice in the Rajya Sabha, meanwhile, has become a rallying point for the SP, TDP, AIADMK and the BJP — they plan to attack the Congress by lining over three-dozen MPs to give similar notices against the PM.

The support of 25 MPs is required if the chairman permits the member, who tabled the notice, to raise the matter in the House.

The CPI's AB Bardhan on Sunday said he did not see anything wrong in Natwar's move. "What is unjustified about the motion? There has been a leak. It's a fact and everyone knows it," said Bardhan after Natwar called on him.

The Congress is on the offensive. "If he (Natwar) has given such a notice, it is an absolute act of indiscipline," said Parliamentary Affairs Minister PR Dasmunsi. His statement hinted at strong action against Natwar.

In a day marked by hectic developments, Natwar, who was the focus of non-Congress parties, was forthcoming and guarded by turns. In the morning, he told the Hindustan Times that he did not intend to pursue the notice he had given on Friday. "As the PMO has denied that it has leaked the report, I'll withdraw my notice immediately," he said.

By evening, after his interaction with Bardhan, SP's Amar Singh, JD(U)'s George Fernandes and other leaders, Natwar was cryptic. "You'll get to know about it (the notice) in due course of time. The chairman (of the Rajya Sabha) is also not here," he said.

The former minister, once known for his proximity to 10 Janpath, however, said he would not utter a word against the Congress and its president Sonia Gandhi. "I've never done so nor will I ever do so, no matter what the provocation. I owe a lot to the Nehru-Gandhi family," he said. He underlined that he would not leave the Congress.

That may be so but the Congress will be forced to act against Natwar if he goes ahead with his privilege notice.

Though the opposition's salvo against the Prime Minister and Sonia was expected, the Congress was uncomfortable with Natwar's interactions (on the Pathak report and the Indo-US nuclear deal) with the leaders of the SP, TDP, JD(U) and the BJP.

BJP leader LK Advani even said that Natwar was made a "scapegoat" in the oil-for-food scam.

Of these meetings, Natwar said, "As a politician one meets other political leaders…. There's no coup d'etat."

SP's Amar Singh met Natwar with messages of support from Mulayam Singh Yadav, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu and AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa on the leak of the Pathak report. "We'll possibly bring a privilege notice against the Prime Minister," Amar Singh said. Fernandes too made the same assertion.

Earlier, Natwar along with Amar Singh, JD(U)'s Digvijay Singh and BJP's Yashwant Sinha met in the chairman's chambers to seek a parliamentary resolution on the nuke deal — a demand that was articulated by the CPM, which had expressed concerns about the US shifting the "goalposts" on the deal.

"CPM's Sitaram Yechury is talking to some people…. We hope to find some solution," said Natwar. He did not elaborate but his remarks seemed to allude that the Prime Minister's statement on the subject may address some of the concerns voiced by the Left on the deal.