Union Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on Saturday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the wake of CBI arresting his nephew on bribery charges. Click here to read: Bansal distances himself from nephew,denies any wrongdoing Bansal drove down to the Prime Minister's official residence and was closeted with him for about 20 minutes. A sullen looking Bansal drove away from the Prime Minister's residence without speaking to reporters. According to sources,Bansal offered to resign but no decision had yet been taken on his offer. The final call on the issue was likely to be taken at the Congress core group meeting later in the evening. The Congress remained ambivalent on the Opposition demands for Railway Minister's resignation saying the law will take its own course. Click here to read: CBI arrests two delivery boys "Law will take its own course. The CBI is an independent body which is investigating the matter. Whoever is responsible will be punished," party spokesperson Rashid Alvi said when asked about the Opposition demand for Bansal's resignation. BJP has demanded the sacking of the railway minister and the CBI prosecution against him with party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad saying that seeking pecuniary advantage by someone close to the Railway minister and abusing the authority of the minister is a "copybook case" of prosecution of Bansal. distanced himself from his nephew,who was arrested by CBI last night in a case of bribery for allegedly fixing a top level position in Railway Board. Earlier in the morning,the minister said he had no business links with his nephew and denied any wrongdoing. In a statement,64-year-old Bansal,who was made Railway Minister in October last year,claimed he has always observed highest standards of probity in public life and that nobody can influence his decisions. He also sought an expeditious CBI inquiry into the issue. "Regarding yesterday's incident involving my sister's firm in a CBI raid at Chandigarh,I have to say that I have no knowledge or proof about the matter at all. Though a close relative,he or any other relative of mine does not and cannot meddle in my official function or influence my decision.There is also no business relationship between his and my family. Bansal's nephew V Singla was arrested on Friday by the CBI,which also held a Member of the Railway Board in connection with alleged bribery of Rs 90 lakh for fixing a top level position in the government. Singla was arrested in Chandigarh for allegedly accepting Rs 90 lakh in cash from Manjunath,the conduit of Mahesh Kumar,recently promoted as Member (Staff) and trying to get a lucrative position as Member (Electrical).
