NEW DELHI, 24 March 2006 — India’s ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi resigned her parliamentary seat yesterday after opposition allegations that she wrongfully held another salaried public post.
“Following the principles of probity and my inner conscience I am resigning my post in the Parliament,” said Gandhi, adding that she would run again for a seat in the Lok Sabha, India’s lower house.
Parliament Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, who is also accused of holding another salaried post, accepted Sonia’s resignation. The 59-year-old Sonia, who led the Congress party to victory in 2004 election, said she would also quit as chairwoman of the National Advisory Council, set up to implement her government’s electoral pledges.
Right-wing opponents had charged that Italian-born Sonia was breaking regulations by holding both posts and that the Congress adjourned Parliament so it could push through a cabinet ordinance to save her. Sensing the gathering political storm, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hinted that his government was mulling the passage of a full-blown law in Parliament that would clearly define what constitutes an office of profit.
“There is no explicit decision as of now as we have not considered the ordinance. All options are open and we will discuss it with other political parties,” Manmohan told reporters.
Minutes after Sonia announced her surprise resignation, hundreds of Congress activists thronged her home in New Delhi, shouting slogans in support of her action. “I have done this because I think it is the right thing to do,” Sonia told reporters. “For the last two days, some people have been trying to create an atmosphere as if the government and Parliament are being used to favor me. This has hurt me very much.
“I have stated it earlier also that I am in politics and public life not for selfish ends,” she said. Sonia, credited with steering the Congress to victory in May 2004 polls, vowed to run again for her seat.
A by-election, which she is expected easily to win, must now be held in her constituency of Rae Bareli — a safe Congress bastion — within 90 days. The Indian Constitution disqualifies an MP “if he holds any office of profit under the Indian government or government of any state, other than an office declared by Parliament by law not to disqualify its holder.”
The controversy erupted after another member of Parliament was disqualified this month for serving as head of a state cinema development board. Since then, several petitions have been filed against other members of Parliament, including Sonia, whose party came to power at the head of a Communist-backed coalition in May 2004. About 40 other lawmakers, both in the ruling coalition and the opposition, are believed to hold such positions.
The National Advisory Council was established to advise the coalition government on policy and give Gandhi a supervisory role after she declined the post of prime minister. The government abruptly adjourned Parliament on Wednesday and was reportedly considering issuing an emergency ordinance to change the law over the “office of profit” provision. But this evoked a storm of protest from the opposition, which accused the government of subverting Parliament.
Sonia ‘s surprise resignation came as left-wing allies of the Congress party insisted that a mere ordinance was not enough and that a parliamentary bill was necessary to change house rules on the holding of multiple posts.
“We are opposed to an ordinance and it will have to be the parliament which must decide upon this issue,” Communist Party of India leader Doraiswamy Raja told AFP. “But she has taken a very ethical and moral stand and resigned as she was being targeted,” the politician added.
