BJP to take Natwar cloud to Kalam

‘‘We want the President to advise the Prime Minister to drop Natwar Singh (from the Cabinet). We are surprised that the Prime Minister has given a clean chit to Natwar Singh without studying the Volcker report,’’ party leader Sushma Swaraj said.

Jaitley, meanwhile, scoffed at plans for threatening legal action against the United Nations. ‘‘This is Indian diplomacy at its lowest,’’ he said, pointing out that the United Nations was ‘‘incapable of being sued in India’s municipal courts’’.

The Prime Minister, he said, should immediately order that a criminal case be registered against all those involved in the scam. Also, Jaitley said: ‘‘This is an opportunity for the Prime Minister to decide whether he runs a government or merely occupies an office. The credibility of the government, governance and the Prime Ministerial office is at stake.’’ To restore this, Singh should be dropped and a domestic probe into the scandal should be ordered, he added.Jaitley pointed out that Russia, Switzerland, Australia and South Africa had already ordered domestic probes, but the government had not done so.

Instead, the Foreign Minister had alleged that the Americans were getting back at him due to his opposition to sanctions against Iraq and the war, and the Congress’s plans for taking on the UN in court had trivialised the issue.