The Congress disciplinary action committee will hold its meeting as soon as chairman A K Antony reaches—tomorrow or the day after—to decide on the fate of Natwar Singh who has dared the party by joining hands with Opposition parties against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

After a high-level meeting tonight called by party president Sonia Gandhi, attended by political secretary Ahmad Patel, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Parliamentary Affairs Minister P R Dasmunsi, a party source said Natwar cannot escape disciplinary action.

Sources said no attempt will be made by the leadership to reach out to the former External Affairs Minister. A softening could come if he “mends his ways and seeks reconciliation.”

That appeared unlikely today given his defiance, seeking unsuccessfully to speak in Parliament and later promising to “tell it all” when he gets an opportunity to speak.

In fact, just before the Pathak report was tabled, Natwar complained to some Congress MPs that he “felt let down by the party in which nobody had the courage to stand up and say I would not do such a thing.”

But when the report quoting Natwar’s letters to the dislodged Iraqi government on AICC stationery—pushing for the oil deal—was made public, more and more Congress MPs started distancing themselves from him.

Natwar’s argument that he was paying a price for his “independent stand towards the US,” was rubbished by even critics of the US within the party. Several Congress leaders—including Vayalar Ravi and Jairam Ramesh—did not find merit in Natwar’s argument. Natwar seemed not interested in a truce with the party leadership. After he ignored a dozen calls from Dasmunsi on Sunday, there was little sympathy for him. The BJP and SP raising slogans in the Rajya Sabha in support of Natwar further sealed his fate.