While AICC spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said no notice from EC had been yet received by Ms Gandhi, party sources said a letter on behalf of her had already been sent to the EC urging closure of the matter because of the “frivolity” of the petition.

‘A civilian decoration’

“The matter is politically motivated and seeks to sensationalise it. It is a civilian decoration, not a title, and does not in any manner violates the Constitution of India.”

“The Belgian Prime Minister lauded Ms Gandhi’s contribution towards India’s democracy and multicultural society, not the Belgian society, while giving the honour. There is no office of profit issue here as she has not become member of any forum through it,” Singhvi said.

Party sources pointed out that Indian personalities like Morarji Desai and Dilip Kumar had got top Pakistani civilian award Nishan-e-Pakistan while Biju Patnaik had got the Bhumiputra honour from Indonesia.
“India too gave the Bharat Ratna to Nelson Mandela and Khan Abdul Ghafar Khan. Does that mean these people become citizens of the countries honouring them. It is a motivated campaign against Ms Gandhi,” the sources said.

The Election Commission (EC) had decided to serve a notice to Congress President Sonia Gandhi for accepting an award from the Belgian government in November 2006.

Difference of opinion

According to sources, there was a difference of opinion in the commission on the issue. The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) N Gopalaswamy and Chawla reportedly favoured sending notice to Gandhi while Quraishi opposed the decision.

“The Order of Leopold”, the second highest civilian award in Belgium, was conferred on  Gandhi for helping in building a more tolerant society.

Allegiance

An advocate from Kerala has complaint to the EC that the congress leader had signed her allegiance to Belgium while receiving the award.

Reacting to the split decision in the EC, BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said the EC should be “politically detached and equi-distanced from all political parties”.

“If the practise of appointing partisan persons as members of the EC gets established as a precedent, it will provide a temptation for future governments to pack the EC with its own team of servile sycophants,” he said
The saffron party has  been targeting Chawla for his alleged “closeness” and “partiality”  to the Congress party.