Rules of office

Sir ? All the political parties of India are now busy making most of the political storm that is raging in the country over the issue of office of profit (?Profit and loss account?, March 24). The entire painful episode of accusations, topped by the resignation of Sonia Gandhi from the Lok Sabha and the National Advisory Council, proves that the interest of the country is of least importance to our elected representatives. Both the Election Commission and the president could have given a more balanced judgment rather than recommending the removal of parliamentarians for holding offices of profit. They should have foreseen the results of such an action. The controversy could easily have been avoided had the president dictated that all the members of both houses must choose between their alleged positions of profit and parliament membership within a specified time, failing which they would face expulsion from parliament. If someone had thought of this simple solution, the country might have been saved an unnecessary period of turmoil.

Yours faithfully,
Asit Kumar Mitra, Calcutta

Sir ? The media are eager to label Sonia Gandhi?s resignation as a second ?sacrifice?, the first being her refusal to accept the post of prime minister in May 2004. But the truth remains that the Congress president has never sacrificed anything: all her decisions have been shrewd political ones. She turned down the prime ministership because she was not interested in heading a minority government propped up by the Left Front. And her recent decision must have been prompted by the urgency to avoid disqualification by the president. When all the Congress leaders had supported the E C?s recommendation to the president for disqualifying Jaya Bachchan, what ground can they have to call Sonia Gandhi a martyr without being guilty of double standards?

Yours faithfully,
K.R. Prem Kumar, Jamshedpur

Sir ? If Sonia Gandhi is really a woman of high moral values, as her party men claim, she should have resigned when the ?office of profit? controversy first came up, leading to Jaya Bachchan?s disqualification as a Rajya Sabha member. Was she ignorant of the fact that the post of the chairperson of the National Advisory Council was an office of profit? Actually, after the resignation of Bachchan, the Congress and Sonia Gandhi herself knew that they were in for trouble. To save their leader, the government tried to bring an ordinance to redefine office of profit and to exclude a few posts from its ambit including, of course, the chairmanship of the NAC. Since opposition resistance foiled this attempt, the lady had no other option but to resign ? a move that also made sense, given the impending assembly elections in five states. A lot depends on how many votes she can win for her party by arousing the people?s sympathy.

Yours faithfully,
Shankar Pandey, Shillong

Sir ? Nothing could be more ironic that the Congress president caught in the ?office of profit? debate. For, the Congress had once conspired to use against its rival leaders the provision of the Constitution which specifies that a member of parliament cannot hold any office of profit. When the issue started snowballing, the party think tank tried to save its president from a huge embarrassment. It would have been better if Sonia Gandhi had faced the charge boldly before the authority instead of resigning under pressure from the Bharatiya Janata Party. Her hopes of enlisting sympathy for her ?sacrifice? is sure to fall flat once the public understands the real logic behind her decision.

Yours faithfully,
S. Maitra, Agarpara

Sir ? The extreme step of proroguing the Lok Sabha sine die by the Congress-led government at the Centre was a serious misuse of power and an insult to the democratic traditions of the nation. The victory that Sonia Gandhi is claiming by her double resignation is a pyrrhic one, since it was in partisan interests.

Yours faithfully,
Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai

Sir ? One could have detected the signs of authoritarianism in the manner in which Sonia Gandhi addressed the press while announcing her resignation. It brought to mind pictures of Indira Gandhi prior to the Emergency. If indeed she was not the centre of the Congress?s machinations, as she would like us to believe, then why has her partymen suddenly gone mum ? now that she has resigned ? on the proposed ordinance?

Yours faithfully,
Sunil V. Khaitan, Calcutta

Sir ? When most elected members of the parliament refuse to quit even when their acts of corruption are caught on camera, Sonia Gandhi has shown exemplary self-respect. At the same time, she has been anything but saintly in her decision to quit. The public support for her will be on the rise now. The wish to see her son as the prime minister in the near future could be the real reason behind her resignation.

Yours faithfully,
M. Kumar, New Delhi

Sir ? After giving up the prime minister?s post in 2004, Sonia Gandhi has proved once again that she is in politics ?to serve the people and not for any personal gain?. If one compares the desperate attempts by Jaya Bachchan to save her Rajya Sabha seat to Sonia Gandhi?s dignified exit, one cannot but feel respect for the latter. Instead of throwing objectionable remarks at Sonia Gandhi, the politicians from the BJP and the Samajwadi Party, most of whom shamelessly hold dual offices of profit, should quit one or the other.

Yours faithfully,
Kalyan Ghosh, Calcutta