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Nitish, two other Samata ministers
not to withdraw resignations

"How can we be in the government when our senior leader George Fernandes is out?" Kumar asked.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had accepted Fernandes' resignation, but rejected that of the three other Samata leaders.

Asked whether the three Samata Party ministers had submitted fresh resignation letters after they were rejected, Kumar said, "There is no need to do so. Our letter stands and we stand by it."

Kumar said he had cancelled all his official engagements as agriculture minister. The three Samata leaders remained adamant on their stand despite Fernandes asking them not to press for their resignations.

Fernandes, while urging them not to press their resignations, had expressed hope that they would accede to his request.

But with Kumar and his two other colleagues not budging from their stand, the impasse over their continuance in the Union ministry continued for the third day.

After submitting his resignation late on Thursday night, Kumar had stated that he and his colleagues would 'not join the government till an independent investigation clears the name of George Fernandes and exposes those forces who have started this campaign against the Samata Party'.

"We know how to make the Prime Minister's Office accept our resignations," both Nitish Kumar and Digvijay Singh had said.

Kumar, however, maintained that though Samata Party members had resigned from the government, they would continue to support the National Democratic Alliance from outside.

Meanwhile, former Minister of State for Defence Production and Supplies Harin Pathak on Saturday denied charges of his involvement in the defence deal scandal and contended that his name was wrongly mentioned in the expose.

In a statement issued in Ahmedabad, Pathak said he was not in charge of the department dealing with defence equipment purchases. "I had no powers as to influence purchase decisions."

He also threatened to sue the portal for wrongly mentioning his name in the expose.

About his links with an official of the defence ministry H C Pant, Pathak said Pant used to arrange his official tours.

He claimed that he had never met any person from 'Westend International', the fictitious arms manufacturing company floated by Tehelka.com reporters.

PTI

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