Party in need of people, Natarajan a part of that need: Rawat

Rubbishing the rumors surrounding the former Union Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan's resignation from the post, Congress leader Harish Rawat on Sunday said the party is in need of people to work for the 2014 general elections and added that she is a part of this need.

"There is no basis to these rumors. She is a valuable colleague and a party leader. At this time, the party is in need of people to work for it. She is a part of that need," Rawat said on Jayanthi Natarajan who resigned on Saturday.

Natarajan was the Minister of State for Environment and Forests. The 59-year-old leader hails from Tamil Nadu and was brought in the environment ministry two years ago. Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister, Veerappa Moily has been given additional charge of Environment Ministry.

In response to Arun Jaitley's recent tweet, Rawat said, "In the history of the UPA Government, in both the terms, have registered high growth rate. We are standing as the fastest growing nation in the world, despite the fact that there was recession, which lasted for two years."

He further added, "We were not able to control the prices of vegetables, due to the lack of support of state governments. We suffered loss due to this, but we are introspecting all of this."

In an apparent dig at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Jaitley had tweeted: "PMs are not judged by the number of years they spend in office but by the direction which they gave to the economy and the polity.