Saturday, October 29 2005 16:49 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today (Oct 29, 2005) demanded the resignation of External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh in the wake of his name figuring as a 'non-contractual beneficiary' in the UN oil-for-food programme in Iraq, saying he cannot continue even for a moment after this serious 'revelation'.

Addressing a specially convened press conference, party general secretary Arun Jaitely also demanded that Congress give a candid statement on the issue and the government set in motion an investigation to find out the truth in the entire episode.

Alleging that the recipients of the fund tried to manage political and diplomatic environment in the country, he said, "India's national interest dictates that lobbies cannot represent its interests. How can he (Natwar Singh) continue as India's Foreign Minister even for a day if the UN report mentions him as a non-contractual beneficiary for manipulated payment in UN Food-for-Oil programme? Every word he speaks will be suspect and his statements on Foreign Affairs will be suspect. A person who can be compromised by X can be compromised by Y."

Asserting that Singh cannot continue as Foreign Minister even for a day, Jaitley said he must go immediately.