Asked whether Natwar was garnering support, Bardhan said: “We are living in a democracy. He came to explain his version. He is not untouchable for us”.

The CPM, which backed Natwar when the Volcker report first came to light, issued a carefully worded statement after the top leadership discussed the issue. “There has been a violation of the privilege and it should be probed. Let the House privileges committee go into it,” stated the CPM. Later, politburo member Sitaram Yechury said the leakage of the report merited a privilege notice and “ought not to have happened”.

SP general secretary Amar Singh, whose party has been carrying on a campaign against the Congress, met Natwar today with messages of support from his party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu and AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa.

Amar Singh said 33 MPs of the three parties were likely to bring a breach of privilege motion against the Prime Minister in the Rajya Sabha tomorrow and raise the issue in the House.

Asked if the PM was to take the blame for the “leak”, he said, “the Prime Minister is the head of the government and even if anybody in the PMO is responsible for this, he has to take the blame.”

The BJP, which put in a privilege notice request at the Lok Sabha notice office today, promised another one in the Rajya Sabha tomorrow morning. BJP leader V K Malhotra said: “These notices are against the PM on the leakage. But our main targets will be the Congress and Sonia Gandhi who have been given a clean chit while Natwar is being made the scapegoat.”

... contd.