Singhvi quits Parliament panel, Cong post

In the wake of the ''objectionable CD'' row, Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Monday resigned from the twin posts of chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law, Justice, Personnel and Grievances and party spokesperson.

The main Opposition BJP signalled trouble for the Congress during the Parliament session beginning Tuesday. Arun Jaitley said on Monday that the CD issue and subsequent resignation of a Parliamentary committee chairman was indeed a serious matter.

“Our party expects a clarification from him (Manu Singhvi) in Parliament for the reasons behind his decision to step down from the committee,” Jaitley, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said here.

Jaitley, replying to a question from journalists, remarked:  “The BJP has so far restrained itself from speaking on the issue. I hope Parliament will get an explanation from him on his decision to resign.”

In his resignation letter sent to party president Sonia Gandhi on Monday, Singhvi said he had decided to resign from the posts “only to prevent even slightest possible Parliamentary disruption regarding the purported CDs” adding that he did not want to “subject the party to any inconvenience on this account”.

Singhvi, however, reiterated that all the allegations made in the “fabricated and morphed” CD were “patently false and baseless.”

In a lengthy statement, the RS member blamed people “inimically opposed” to him for spreading  “canards and baseless allegations” despite a final permanent decree of injunction passed by Delhi High Court over the CD.

Singhvi’s resignation has been accepted by the party. Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi, who informed media about the resignation of Singhvi, however, refused an answer on whether Singhvi resigned on his own or party asked him to step down.