Wednesday, November 9 2005 17:02 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Darbhanga: Mounting an offensive on the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Advani today (Nov 09, 2005) accused PM of 'shunning his duty' towards the nation by not sacking Natwar Singh from the cabinet in the wake of the Volcker committee findings.

Addressing election rallies here and at Madhubani, Advani, alleged that Haridarshan Singh Meji, the Iraq-based man of Indian origin who had revealed that Congress President Sonia Gandhi's letter enabled the former external affairs minister to seek favours in the oil-for-food scam was being pressured to retract his statement.

"The Prime Minister's responsibilities do not end with divesting Natwar Singh of external affairs portfolio. As long as the whole truth does not come out Natwar Singh and the Congress president will remain under the cloud", he said at an election rally here.

Relieving of Natwar Singh of the key external affairs portfolio was 'insufficient', Advani said and demanded his ouster from the union cabinet, as the country's image in the global community had been 'sullied' due to the alleged involvement of Singh and the Congress party in the controversial oil deals.