Wednesday, December 28 2005 14:20 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President L K Advani today (Dec 28, 2005)demanded that Congress President Sonia Gandhi step down as head of National Advisory Council in the wake of the Iraqi oil payoffs controversy and accused it of being desperate to 'hang' Natwar Singh to portray Gandhi as 'squeaky clean'.

"There was prima facie case that the Congress party was a non-contractual beneficiary of Saddam Hussein's largesse, while former minister for External Affairs, Natwar Singh was a mere messenger-cum-commission agent," BJP President L K Advani said in his inaugural address at the party convention that began, here today.

Advani said that the Congress president cannot continue to pretend (that) she did not know her party was a beneficiary of Saddam's oil kickbacks.

"The Volcker report has only reinforced the Congress party's utter disregard for probity in public life, " he said.

"The Congress party, which has fathered the culture of corruption in India, does not appear remotely ashamed. On the contrary, it is brazenly using official investigating agencies to try and shift the focus away from those who were the real beneficiaries," Advani said.

He said media reports have put the amount of the alleged kickbacks received in the Iraqi oil payoffs at a staggering Rs 528 crore, several times the Rs 64 crore kickback a Congress functionary is supposed to have received from Bofors.

"It was a responsibility of every member of the BJP to carry this 'shameless tale of sleaze' to every corner of India and mobilize people to demand an explanation," he said.