Natwar, Congress set for reconciliation

The Natwar Singh drama took a new turn today with the former foreign minister sending feelers to party managers that he regretted his outburst against the prime minister and no matter how much pressure he was under, he could not attack Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

The stage was set for an all-round forgive and forget position. Singh amended his draft for a personal explanation in the Rajya Sabha to make it virtually toothless.

Natwar Singh met Minister of State for Personnel Suresh Pachouri in the morning and spoke to him at length.

The former foreign minister broke down as he described his predicament "" that both the BJP and Samajwadi Party were trying to use him to somehow draw Gandhi in the oil commissions controversy, something he could not bring himself to do.

As tears rolled down Natwar's cheeks, Pachouri told him that the first thing he needed to do was withdraw his personal statement sent to the Rajya Sabha Secretariat today.

Singh said he could not do that but asked for a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Pachaouri told him that was not possible after all the statements he had made against the prime minister, but advised him to go home and think over the matter.

After this meeting, Natwar Singh came out and told reporters: "Meri baat chal rahi hai. Main abhi kuchch nahin kahunga (I'm in negotiations, I will say nothing for now)."

The matter was then reported to Defence Minister and Disciplinary Action Committee member Pranab Mukherjee. Sources on the committee admitted they had been told further action was on hold.

However, publicly the party maintained its aloofness from Natwar Singh. When questioned, Mukherjee said: "His job was to lead a goodwill delegation. He did that job but at the same time, he did the job of furthering the business interests and commercial interests of the relatives of his son."

Why Natwar Singh had changed his mind was not clear. It could be a genuine fear of isolation "" or it could be blackmail by security agencies which have in their possession, an important letter that indicts him completely and totally. But there were clear indications that some rethinking was on .

However, beyond a laconic two-finger salute exchanged by the former foreign minister and the prime minister in the Rajya Sabha, there was no contact between the two.

Sources close to Manmohan Singh said Natwar Singh had desired a meeting with Manmohan Singh but the prime minister was not in a position to oblige. The sources recalled that barely hours earlier, Natwar had derided the prime minister for being unable to win elections.

The suspended Congress MP's motion of privilege against the prime minister was rejected by Rajya Sabha Chairman BS Shekhawat after scrutiny.

This came as no surprise as the motion needed to prove, with evidence, that a leak had occurred in the PMO. As Natwar presumably did not have evidence, the Chairman found the motion inadmissible.