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Sonia's third resignation

Amritsar: After her resignation from the National Advisory Council (NAC) and from the Lok Sabha in the aftermath of the office-of profit controversy, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has resigned as chairperson of the prestigious Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Trust. The resignation letter was received through fax by Trust secretary S.K. Mukherjee here on Tuesday. Another copy of the letter was also faxed to the Punjab Governor, a member of the Trust.

Mr. Mukherjee said he received a one-line faxed letter from Ms. Gandhi announcing her decision to resign with immediate effect. "I have received the consent of Punjab Governor Gen. S.F. Rodrigues and another Trust member Varinder Kataria for the acceptance of the resignation." The other members were being contacted and they were expected to give their consent, he told media persons here.

Ms. Gandhi was appointed chairperson of the Trust on August 7, 1998 when A.B. Vajpayee was Prime Minister. The appointment came in for criticism because it violated the rules of the Trust, which always entrusted the post of Chairman/Chairperson with the current Prime Minister. The chairperson/chairman's post is not an office of profit as none of the members of the Trust receives any allowances. The Trust receives collections from non-governmental organisations, freedom fighters and other organisations. But at times funds are provided by the Central or Punjab Governments for any particular proposal for development.

The other trustees were the Punjab Governor, the Chief Minister, the former Prime Minister, Inder Kumar Gujral, and senior Punjab Congress leaders Umrao Singh and Virender Kataria, besides Mr. Mukherjee, who has been the secretary for the past two decades.

According to Mr. Mukherjee, a successor will only be appointed after a meeting of the Trustees. The Centre and the Punjab Government would also be informed, he said. The Lok Sabha member from Amritsar and senior Congress leader, R.L. Bhatia, who is the Governor of Kerala, was considered instrumental in appointing Ms. Gandhi as chairperson in place of Mr. Vajpayee. — UNI

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