Sunday, December 4 2005 20:44 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Jaipur: Rejecting the demand for K Natwar Singh's removal from the Union Cabinet in the wake of Aniel Matherani's remarks on Iraqi oil payoffs, the Congress today (Dec 4, 2005) said it has adopted a 'middle path' of reserving the right to take action only after the probe is complete.

"The Congress has adopted a middle path by reserving the right to take action till the probe is done. Second, the Prime Minister has to decide on the continuation of Natwar Singh as Minister without portfolio," AICC spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi told a news conference here.

"Similarly, Congress President Sonia Gandhi reserved the right to take action against any member till he or she is proved guilty of a crime or of corruption", he said.

"If there was any evidence of connivance in the UN Oil-For-Food Programme in Iraq during the erstwhile Saddam Hussein regime in receiving oil coupons in the party's name, the Congress chief had made it clear that immediate action would be taken," Singhvi said.

The Congress could not take a decision on an unverified report like that of the Paul Volcker committee.

Asked whether Natwar Singh's son Jagat was a member of the Congress delegation in Iraq, Singhvi said, "Not at all and if someone abused the party in the oil coupon scam, he will be punished."

"The party was not facing pressure from Natwar Singh's on the issue nor was it isolating him," he added.

"It is a question of self-consciousness, whether one stays in the Government or relieves his ministry, but the Congress has adopted a middle path till the final report of legal commission."

Asked about Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President L K Advani's demand for the Congress President's resignation in light of the alleged oil payoffs, Singhvi said the saffron party was trying to rake up a 'political sensation' every week on the Volcker report.

The party could not even pull on the debate on the report in Parliament and former Prime Minister A B Vajpayee did not relish the debate, he said.

"The Central Government has already appointed probe committees, one legal and another fact-finding and any new disclosure will be tackled by these investigating bodies which have got Constitutional rights," the spokesman said.

Turning to the issue of the Women's Reservation Bill, Singhvi said, "What has the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government led by the BJP been doing in power for five years and why did it not get it passed through Parliament then."