New Delhi, April 10
Following up on her resignation from the Lok Sabha and the National Advisory Council, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has now resigned from all the socio-cultural organisations which she heads or patronises. These include all those connected with the Nehru-Gandhi family.
Last week, Mrs Gandhi had announced that she was stepping down as chairperson of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, which was preceded by her resignation from the Amritsar-based Jallianwala Bagh National Trust.
She has now put in her papers as head of the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust, Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Trust, Indian Council of Child Welfare, Swaraj Bhavan Trust, Kamla Nehru Memorial Society and Hospital and the Nehru Trust for Cambridge University
The Congress president had resigned from Parliament and the NAC last month when the opposition sought her disqualification on the ground that she was holding an office of profit.
This issue had created a storm in Parliament after actor and Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan was unseated from the Rajya Sabha for holding an office of profit.
Mrs
Gandhi, who is set to contest her Rae Barelli seat again on May 8, has resigned from all the organisations
she is associated with primarily to ensure that she does not run into any legal problems during her election. All candidates are required to declare details of their association with any organisations and trusts when they file their nomination papers as MP and
legislators are not allowed to hold an office of profit. Congress insiders said the party president had consulted legal experts before taking this decision.
Besides ensuring that she is on sound legal ground, Mrs Gandhi’s move will also help expose her political opponents who had targetted her on the office of profit issue. After she
resigned her Lok Sabha seat, the same opposition changed its stance and agreed to support a Bill redefining an office of profit since their own MPs and legislators also faced disqualification under the same clause.
