Bansal to quit

Beleaguered Railway Minister P K Bansal is likely to quit after he was understood to have been asked to do so in the wake of the arrest of his nephew on bribery charges.

64-year-old Bansal was given the marching orders shortly after Congress President Sonia Gandhi met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh amid growing unease in the party over the controversy surrounding the Railway Minister.

Already battered by a series of scams, the party and the government suffered a severe blow when Bansal's nephew Vijay Singla was arrested last Friday for allegedly accepting Rs.90 lakh as bribe for helping in the promotion of a Railway Board Member Mahesh Kumar.

Media reports that a number of kin of Bansal had benefited from a public sector bank by way of loans when he was Minister of State of Finance earlier further embarrassed the party and the government.

A clear hint about action against Bansal came when Congress spokesman Bhakt Charan Das said the party will not spare anybody "mired" in corruption or manipulation.

Bansal's exit is expected to trigger a reshuffle in the Council of Ministers over which the Congress President and the Prime Minister will meet on Sunday.

The resuffule, expected next week, may also affect Law Minister Ashwani Kumar, who is also under attack over vetting of CBI report on coal block allocation. Unlike Bansal, Kumar's portfolio may be changed.

Meanwhile, there were unconfirmed reports from Bangalore that Union Labour Minister Mallikarjun Kharge, who lost out in race for Chief Ministership in Karnataka, told his supporters not to be disheartened because he may be given the Railway portfolio.

Initially the Congress party decided to weather the storm over Bansal but as more and more damning reports surfaced, it had to take a call on asking him to quit. 

Gandhi and Singh held confabulations this evening to review the situation arising out of the controversy surrounding Bansal and Ashwani Kumar. The meeting was also attended by Union Ministers Ghulam Nabi Azad and Sachin Pilot.

At the AICC briefing earlier, the Congress spokesman said, "One thing is very clear that Congress party is not going to tolerate any corruption. That much I can assure you..."

To questions on the fate of Bansal and Kumar, he said, "Congress has always looked at the issue like corruption very seriously and is examining this subject also very seriously."

He went on to add, "..I have very categorically said that the Congress party's policy is that the party and the leadership is not going to spare anybody, who is mired in corruption."

To a specific question on whether the Law Minister should resign himself as enough controversy surrounding his role on the CBI's draft report on coal has happened, Das said tersely "what he would do, it is up to him. How can I say he should do this or that? I do not exist in the heart of Ashwani Kumar and in the mind of Ashwani Kumar."

To a question on whether he means that action will be taken against both Bansal and Kumar, he said, "... anybody involved in any kind of manipulation cannot be spared. So far Ashwini Kumar is concerned, the CBI and the Supreme Court are looking into the issue. It depends on the instruction of the Supreme Court."

Das said, "a debate on Ashwani Kumar and the Railway Minister is going on....the law of the land has taken up the matter and very seriously the Supreme Court and the CBI are doing it. And We are very serious about that."