Friday, March 24 2006 17:10 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party today (Mar 24 2006) aid Congress President Sonia Gandhi's resignation from the Lok Sabha was out of compulsion and not a sacrifice as was being projected by her party.

"It would have been a sacrifice if she had resigned soon after Jaya Bachchan's disqualification from the Rajya Sabha," SP Parliamentary Board chairman Ram Gopal Yadav told sources here and claimed Gandhi had resigned owing to "pressure" from the media, Opposition and public.

He said the Congress had got "trapped in its own net" and alleged that it was a Congress worker who petitioned the President for disqualification of Bachchan.

He said the resignation was not a sacrifice as Gandhi should not have accepted the National Advisory Council Chairperson's post in the first place as she had access to files of all departments for monitoring.

"Does it not mean it is an office of profit. The NAC Chairperson's post is the biggest office of profit in the country," he said.

Yadav asserted that SP Rajya Sabha MP and Uttar Pradesh Development Council chairman Amar Singh would not resign as the party "does not want to make her (Gandhi) someone who should be emulated."

The SP was not against an amendment for redefining the offices of profit but was against the manner in which it was proposed to be done, he said.

"Had the government brought a bill in Parliament, we would not have opposed it but to bring an Ordinance after proroguing the House is against Parliamentary tradition," the SP leader said.