'I support Shekhawat as he too hails from Raj'

New Delhi, June 27: Former External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh tonight said his support for Shekhawat was because of the fact that he too was from Rajasthan.

Mr Natwar, against whom the Congress Party today filed a petition for disqualification from Rajya Sabha under the anti-defection law for being a principal proposer of NDA-sponsored Presidential Candiate Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, told UNI that he was supporting Mr Shekhawat because he was a ''proud Rajasthani''.

In this context, he cited the support the Shiv Sena had extended to UPA-Left nominee Pratibha Patil, just because she happened to be a Maharashtrian.

Mr Natwar, who was suspended from the Congress Party a year ago in the light of his alleged involvement in the oil-for-food scam under the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq in 2002, said he was not a member of the BJP but he and Mr Shekhawat were from Rajasthan.

The Congress Party today filed a petition for his disqualification after he was seen in the company of BJP and NDA leaders yesterday during the filing of nomination papers by Mr Shekhawat.

He is said to be one of the principal sponsors of the candidature of Mr Shekhawat.

UNI

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