Congress And Natwar Singh - What Next?

"How can any aspersion be cast on me and Congressgiven a clean chit?" he had fumed yesterday. But today, on his way out fromthe adjourned Rajya Sabha, he held out an olive branch: "The only strengthI had was the Congress party. So how can the Congress party and I bedivorced". Singh did not respond when asked about possibility of hisjoining the Samajwadi Party, though the Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh hadgone on to say that he was welcome. But then the same Samajwadi Party leader hadalso sought to use Natwar Singh to target Sonia Gandhi as well. In response toall this, instead of countering Amar Singh's charge that the Congress presidentherself was implicated in the oil-deal, Natwar Singh chose to only thank themwhile being non-comittal. There was plenty of time to talk, he had hinted,between today and Monday, when Parliament reconvenes.

By evening, however, when he spoke to CNN-IBN, he hadbecome far more clearer about whether he was thinking about the offer fromSamajwadi Party: "No, I'm not but I'm very grateful to Amar Singhjiand Mulayam Singhji that they made this offer. But I want to tell mesomething to other parties, which I refuse to name, I am a Congressman, I'vebeen in the party for 22 years and 31 years in the foreign service. I've been aminister for only seven years, and I'm 75 and I'm not bothered about being aminister or my name being cleared. Pathak has cleared my name."

About what he expects from Congress Party, he hinted: "Now the reporthas come out, they can say that Natwar Singh has been exonerated and his sonalso."

But after admitting that he had been in touch with Sonia Gandhi, after thecontroversy broke, in the last nine months, he refuses as yet to say anythingmore about her: "I will not discuss Sonia Gandhi on the television becauseof the special relationship that has been going on for six decades. They havedone a lot of good for me." On being asked whether he was let down by her,he would only say: "I would request you not to question me about SoniaGandhi because I will not say anything."

And it is to Sonia Gandhi that he seems to be pinning all his hopes on, aswhen asked why he had refused to resign when the controversy first broke, hisanswer: "I will tell you why I did it. If I had done so at the veryfirst day, the next day, the attack would have been on Sonia Gandhi."

But the more interesting is the technical nature of all the replies, whenasked specifically about the oil-deal. His defence rests on the fact that thereis no specific evidence. Even when asked about whether it could not be arguedthat Andaleeb Sehgal, whom he had given a letter of recommendation to, was onlyacting as a middle-man for the Congress, sent by him to collect money on behalfof the party, this is what he says:

"The deal has been done by a party called Masefield, which say that theyhave never heard of Mr Natwar Singh and have no contact with him. I asked MrPathak to show me if I had signed any contract, got any voucher or receipt, gota foreign account - no. I told him, 'then, what I am I doing here?'"

On the basis of this, he argues, there is no case for a CBI enquiry. "Whyshould there be a CBI enquiry if this is a FEMA case? All that Sehgal will do isto pay a penalty. And it's been blown out of proportion for a variety ofreasons. And this thing shouldn't even have been taken off the ground."

When specifically asked whether he is upset that he and Congress party havebeen treated as separate entities, that while the Congress has been given aclean chit, he still is under a cloud of suspicion, he maintains: "They arenot fundamental questions. Fundamental question is, did we get any money? No, MrPathak says so. Whether I wrote or not is irrelevant to the whole thing."

On being asked specifically whether he was going to leave the party, hisanswer: No, I am not. Please don't bring Sonia Gandhi into it. The decision onwhat happens in the future is between me and the Congress party. People ask meif I will become a minister, I say the decision is mine and not somebody else's.

Perhaps he forgets that it is for the PM to decide whoshould be a minister - or at least Sonia Gandhi. Or perhaps, he is taking thatfor granted. The trouble for the Congress is that no matter what it doesvis-a-vis him, he is, to put it mildly, at least going to be a big political liability.

With inputs from PTI and Natwar Singh's interview to CNN-IBN