PHOTO: SANDEEP SAXENA

TIME OF TROUBLES: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh during a ceremonial reception to Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Monday. Later, Mr. Natwar Singh was relieved of his portfolio.

New Delhi: Natwar Singh was on Monday relieved of his portfolio of External Affairs Ministry by the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. Mr. Natwar Singh, however, will continue in the Union Council of Ministers as a Minister without portfolio while the Prime Minister himself will temporarily look after External Affairs.

According to a press release by the Prime Minister's Office, it was Mr. Natwar Singh who had requested the Prime Minister to "relieve" him of his charge. Mr. Natwar Singh's continuation as External Affairs Minister had become untenable after the Government announced on Monday morning the appointment of the former Chief Justice of India, Mr. R.S. Pathak, to hold an inquiry into the allegations in the Volcker Report.

Though the official announcement noted that Mr.Justice Pathak would hold an inquiry into the Volcker Report disclosures, the former Chief Justice himself pointedly told the media that he would look into "the allegations in the report pertaining to the Congress Party and Natwar Singh." The terms of reference are likely to be announced in a day or two.

The Government was keen on making the announcement of Mr.Justice Pathak's appointment before a National Democratic Alliance delegation called on President Abdul Kalam and demanded that action be taken against Mr. Natwar Singh. On Sunday night, the Centre had already named a former diplomat Virendra Dayal as its "special envoy" to "liaise" with the United Nations.

Honouring the promise

The two announcements were by way of honouring the promise the Prime Minister had made to the President that the Government would "get to the root of the matter."

After the announcement of the probe, the expectation within the Congress and the Government was that Mr. Natwar Singh would step down. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the Prime Minister and other senior AICC functionaries were of the view that he could not continue as Foreign Minister. However, Mr. Natwar Singh was not receptive to the idea and he continued to carry on his ministerial role with characteristic aplomb. It took considerable backroom manoeuvring and gentle persuasion from the Prime Minister before Mr. Singh saw the point that it would be a definite "embarrassment" for everyone, including himself, to continue as Foreign Minister while he was under investigation.

The assumption is that if and when Mr. Singh gets a clean chit from Mr. Justice Pathak, he will get back his portfolio.

Though the leadership was prepared to show its iron fist if Mr. Natwar Singh kept up in private his public posture of defiance, a senior decision maker involved in the day-long exercise described the final solution as " a sensible way of doing things."

Hectic activity

The announcement that Mr. Natwar Singh stood relieved of his portfolio came at the end of a day of hectic activity. This included the announcement of the Pathak probe, the Congress's letter to the U.N. Secretary-General, the enforcement authorities' interrogation of Andaleep Sehgal, an NDA delegation's call on the President, and the Communist Party of India (Marxist)'s positive response to the decision to get to the truth.

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