M A I N   N E W S

Congress MPs told not to resign
Prashant Sood
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 24
Looking to gain moral high plane and silence the Opposition from the decision of Congress president Sonia Gandhi to resign her Lok Sabha seat and NAC post following the office of profit controversy, the party leadership has conveyed to its MPs and MLAs not to send in their resignations lest it dilutes the impact of the top leader’s “sacrifice.”

Though the party officially maintained that no instructions had been sent, sources said the party leaders had been told not to go overboard with resignations.

After senior party leader Dr Karan Singh and Mumbai Regional Congress Committee president Gurudas Kamat sent in their resignations to the Congress president yesterday, there were reports that other leaders, including Mr Jairam Ramesh, were planning to send their resignations.

Union Minister Oscar Fernandes told The Tribune that no party MP and MLA could send his resignation to the presiding officers directly without seeking permission from the Congress president. “The party leaders may be sending resignations to Mrs Gandhi but that’s not the issue.... If it is needed, all of us will resign in a minute,” he said.

Sources said Mrs Gandhi had also conveyed to some party leaders who met her not to get emotional over her resignation. For the record, however, Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said that no instructions had been issued by the party to its MPs either to resign or not to.

“There may be some natural spontaneous action. However, they are not part of any organised decision at the party level,” he said. Asked if the party would demand the resignation of MPs from other political parties in the office of profit controversy, Mr Singhvi said the party was not propagating any “theory of competitive resignation.”