Political reactions highlight extremes

Hyderabad: Former chief minister and Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu said yesterday that Congress president Sonia Gandhi had resigned from the Lok Sabha and the National Advisory Council because she had "no alternative."

"It is not a sacrifice at all. How can you say it is a sacrifice? She had no alternative other than resigning from the Lok Sabha and the National Advisory Council. Otherwise she would have invited disqualification. The Congress wants to cheat the people by describing her resignation as a sacrifice," said Naidu.

Naidu added that the Congress had fallen into the ditch it had dug. Gandhi had resigned just to save her image as the Election Commission was considering her case.

Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, however, termed Gandhi's resignation as "another supreme sacrifice."

"When it comes to sacrifice no one will be able to match her. Such sacrifice is not the first. Twice earlier she had sacrificed the office of prime minister," Dr Reddy said.

Dr Reddy, State Congress president K. Keshava Rao and Chief Minister's advisor K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao left for New Delhi to call on Gandhi.

"Everyone should emulate her including seniors. The Opposition BJP had criticised that Parliament was adjourned sine die to protect her and that the government was trying to bring in an ordinance. She proved all of them wrong by her supreme sacrifice," he said.

Meanwhile finance minister K. Rosaiah, known for his interesting observations, raised the possibility of a mid-term election.

He said that Gandhi had created a new tradition. "It's a brave decision and a supreme sacrifice to uphold public morality. We have to wait and see if others will follow her example."

Then, he said that the figure of 40 MPs holding offices of profit was being bandied about. If more than 40 MPs have to quit in the wake of this controversy, there is every possibility of a mid-term poll, he added.

"This grandstanding will not help," countered BJP general secretary and spokesman Arun Jaitley.

Jaitley continued, saying, "The resignation is a confession of a culprit trying to subvert democracy and Constitution."