Congress core group to meet on Bansal

The Congress core group will meet here Saturday evening to consider the political ramifications of the arrest of Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal's nephew for allegedly taking a bribe to ensure the promotion of a railway official.

Besides Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Sonia Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel are the other members of the core group.

Bansal met the prime minister at the latter's 7 Race Course Road residence Saturday morning and apprised him of the issue, informed sources said.

Later, Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi defended Bansal, saying that he had clarified his position and "those demanding his resignation were affected by a disease".

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Saturday arrested Bansal's nephew Vijay Singla and three others in Chandigarh for allegedly taking Rs.90 lakh from a railway official. Six people have been arrested, the CBI said.

The railway official, Mahesh Kumar, was general manager of Western Railway and was made a Railway Board member Thursday. He was taken into custody in Mumbai.