Even Congress named in Volcker report: Natwar Singh

NEW DELHI: Natwar Singh today hit back at the Congress saying the party has conveniently forgotten that it too was named in the Volcker report as a "non-contractual beneficiary".

Responding to the Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi's remarks, Singh said, "The Congress party is also mentioned in the Volcker Report as the non-contractual beneficiary. Singhvi has conveniently forgotten this."

Yesterday, Singhvi had said the UPA-I government and Congress took an "uncompromising stand and it was a clearly principled stand when Natwar Singh was asked to resign from the Council of Ministers and of course later from CWC."

Both the government and the party had "no option but to take serious cognizance of the extremely serious findings of the so-called Volcker committee to investigate the so-called UN oil-for-food programme."

He also said the Volcker committee report said on 27.10.2005 that "Natwar Singh's family were non-contractual (corrupt) beneficiaries of the oil-for-food programmes."

Rubbishing former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remarks that his claims against Sonia Gandhi were aimed at getting publicity for his book, Natwar Singh said "It is unfortunate. I did not expect this from a person like him to make this kind of remark that I am doing this for publicity.

"My book is selling and I cannot tell them don't sell the book. I know he is doing this (of attacking Singh) to please Sonia Gandhi," Singh said.

The former External Affairs Minister, in his autobiography, has claimed that it was Rahul Gandhi's fear for her life that prevented Gandhi from becoming Prime Minister contracting her version that she heeded to her "inner voice" in not taking up the post.