"Inner conscience" speaks again to Sonia
INDIA: India's reluctant leader Sonia Gandhi has cited her "inner
conscience" as reason for giving up a key political post for the second
time in two years.
Unlike in 2004, however, when she was dubbed "Saint Sonia" by the
media after renouncing the prime minister's job, the decision Thursday
to quit her seat in parliament was seen not as self-sacrifice but as a
political necessity.
"She was caught red-handed trying to subvert democracy," said leader
of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Arun Jaitley,
minutes after 59-year-old Gandhi announced she was giving up her seat in
parliament.
The Italian-born ruling Congress party chief also said she was
standing down as chairwoman of the government's National Advisory
Council.
The BJP had charged that Gandhi was breaking parliamentary
regulations by holding both positions.
"Following the principles of probity and my inner conscience, I am
resigning my post in the parliament," she told reporters.
"I have done this because I think it is the right thing to do."
Her words bore more than a faint echo of those she used when, after
propelling Congress to a surprise electoral victory over the then-ruling
BJP in May 2004, she was offered the job as prime minister.
She was poised to make history as India's first foreign-born leader.
But with Hindu right-wingers threatening mass demonstrations and vowing
to hound the "foreigner" out of office, she quietly declined the top
government post.
"I was always certain that if ever I found myself in the position
that I am in today, I would follow my own inner voice. Today, that voice
tells me I must humbly decline this post," she said.
Gandhi has always let it be known she is a reluctant politician. Her
loss of her seat in parliament is temporary.
A special election must now be held in her constituency of Rae Bareli
in the state of Uttar Pradesh - a safe Congress bastion - within 90
days.
No one doubts she will win and be back in parliament in time for the
monsoon session mid-year.
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."
NEW DELHI, Friday AFP |