Sonia Gandhi Quits Indian Parliament

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Sonia Gandhi, the leader of India's governing coalition, stepped down Thursday as a member of Parliament amid feuding with opposition parties over whether she violated a once-obscure election law by holding another government job.

Despite her resignation, Gandhi still wields considerable political clout. Much of her influence is informal, and she is seen by many Indians as the real power behind Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. She said she would run again for the same parliamentary seat in the future.
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Gandhi was first elected to Parliament in 1999. After her party won elections in 2004, she refused to take the post of prime minister, but did take over the ruling coalition. Until Thursday, she also headed the National Advisory Council, set up to oversee the government's development program. She does not, however, earn a salary from that job.

Nevertheless, opposition leaders pointed out that the government-appointed job of heading the National Advisory Council is an "office of profit" under the 1959 law and cannot be headed by a lawmaker.
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As the news about Gandhi's resignation spread Thursday, thousands of Congress Party workers and supporters assembled outside her home, demanding she reverse her decision. They held Gandhi's portraits, squatted on the road and shouted slogans against the Hindu nationalist opposition leaders.
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