NEW DELHI, Feb 13: Former Indian foreign minister Natwar Singh resigned from the ruling Congress party on Wednesday following a bitter standoff with party leader Sonia Gandhi who forced him to quit the cabinet over alleged involvement in the oil for food scam with Iraq.

Mr Singh indicated his interest in working for the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the next general elections and made his resignation from the Congress public at a rally in Jaipur where he shared the platform with Rajasthan Chief Minister and BJP leader Vasundhara Raje Scindia, local reports said The move appeared to suit both. Ms Scindia has been involved in a clutch of showdowns with former BJP foreign minister and political rival Jaswant Singh. She is understood to be keen to project Natwar Singh as a foreign minister should the BJP come back to power next year.

“Wait and see” was all that Mr Natwar Singh said to a question whether he would join the BJP or if he expects to get a BJP seat to parliament as his term in Rajya Sabha is coming to an end shortly.

Mr Singh was suspended from the party and faces a petition for his disqualification from Rajya Sabha. He quit the Manmohan Singh cabinet after the Volcker Committee findings in the UN oil-for-food scam in which he and his son were named as beneficiaries. An Indian probe panel found that he had used his position to get oil contracts from the former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein regime for his son’s friend Andaleeb Sehgal. However, Mr Singh was not found to have personally benefited from the deal.

Mr Singh’s membership in the Rajya Sabha ends in April this year. Mr Singh said congress was not the same as it was during the period of Nehru and Indira Gandhi. “Sonia Gandhi is going to ruin the party. Congress has lost many elections including in Gujarat. She does not understand the difference between Ramayan and Mahabharat. How can she lead a nation?” he asked.

Speaking at the rally organised in memory of Maharaj Surajmal, a former ruler of Bharatpur, Singh said Jats (who comprise a backward community) were more committed to the region than any “outsider”, an apparent potshot at Sonia Gandhi.