Zakhas News >> Volcker report: Natwar to respond in Parliament

Foreign Minister Natwar Singh, who has been indicted by the Volcker committee report for his alleged role in the oil-for-food scam, has said he will respond to the charges in Parliament.

The Congress, which has also been charged with being the beneficiary in the oil-for-food scam, seems to have deflected the entire focus of the controversy on Natwar.

''How is the Congress party involved? It doesn't figure anywhere in any bank vouchers," said Rajeev Shukla, Congress MP.

Internal rivalries

But the controversy has underlined internal differences and rivalries within the Congress.

Off camera, many Congress leaders told NDTV that the Prime Minister's defence of the foreign minister was premature.

But the fact is that Natwar Singh has always been close to Congress President Sonia Gandhi and it will not be easy for the party to ignore that.

Under scanner

However, the minister's son Jagat Singh is now firmly under the scanner. Jagat has many detractors within the Rajasthan Congress after he was given a ticket from Bharatpur in the last Lok Sabha elections, which he lost.

Speaking for the first time after the controversy, Jagat said it was not his family but Paul Volcker who needed to answer questions. Jagat said neither his father nor he had seen a barrel of oil in their life.

While Jagat admitted that Andy Sehgal, partner in the company accused of paying the illegal surcharge to Saddam Hussein, was a friend, he was not familiar with Andy's business details.

The family is contemplating legal action.