India's 'wanted' minister resigns

The resignation letter of Soren, a prominent tribal leader from the eastern state of Jharkhand and chief of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, was handed over by a delegation of his party colleagues to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh this afternoon, Sunil Mahato, a member of the delegation, told reporters here.

Shibu Soren, who was in the forefront of an agitation for the formation of Jharkhand state in seventies, is now a member of Lok Sabha, lower house of parliament, from Dumka constituency of the state ruled by BJP.

Soren's resignation came a day after the Prime Minister shot off a letter asking him to quit ministry in the wake of the arrest warrant against the JMM leader. As Soren has remained missing for more than a week since the issuance of the warrant by a court in Jharkhand, the letter was handed over to the tribal leader's personal staff.

Manmohan Singh's missive to Soren was sent after a meeting of senior leaders of ruling Congress, which heads a 15-party coalition, at the official residence of the Prime Minister. Congress President Sonia Gandhi was present at the meeting.

Soren's resignation came two days before Jharkhand high court hears his petition seeking quashing of the arrest warrant issued against him by a trial court in Jharkhand, against Soren for allegedly inciting violence that killed 10 people in 1975.

The opposition BJP-led National Democratic Alliance had paralyzed proceedings in parliament for four days from July 20 pressing for dismissal of Soren.

The opposition had contended that it was unprecedented that a cabinet minister has been "absconding" even after a warrant was issued against him and did not bother to give himself up before the law.

The opposition had also demanded a statement from the Prime Minister explaining how his cabinet colleague could remain "missing" in the light of the warrant.

By the day, the continuance of Soren in the federal ministry had been looking untenable since the arrest warrant was issued and he had been missing for a week.

Congress sources said there was recognition in party circle that the Soren issue was an embarrassment to the government.

The BJP, encouraged by Soren's resignation, announced that it would launch a country-wide movement from July 26 to press their demand for the resignation of some more "tainted" ministers of the Congress-led government who are facing court cases and criminal charges.