The BJP is divided over Natwar Singh. While a section is indulging the former foreign minister to eventually use him for turning the heat on the Congress and Sonia Gandhi, the other insisting that both be treated at par.

Senior BJP leaders Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha spent a greater part of the day in the company of Natwar Singh. On the other hand, general secretary Arun Jaitley stressed at a meeting of key leaders at the residence of former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee that the evidence available against the former Congress minister was quite clinching. The BJP, he felt, would err by backing him after having forced his resignation from the ministry a few months ago.

The meeting was attended by L K Advani, Jaswant Singh, party president Rajnath Singh, Murli Manohar Joshi, Yashwant Sinha and Vijay Kumar Malhotra.

A senior BJP leader told The Indian Express: ‘‘Hold on, there will be a bombshell in the course of Natwar Singh’s speech in the Upper House, hopefully tomorrow.’’ Asked to spell it out, he said, ‘‘It is a matter of common sense, if Natwar Singh recommended somebody to the Iraqi Oil Minister, somebody must have recommended him to the Iraqi authorities too.’’ ‘‘Pathak might not have been interested in finding the trail of the coupon issued in the Congress’ name, but Natwar may be able to recount the track of this document.’’ Besides, he said, ‘‘Natwar was surely not the only one who met the Iraqi minister - there might have been some others too.’’

... contd.