PTI
 
Varanasi, Mar 23: BJP lader LK Advani on Thursday sought to take credit for the resignation of Congress President Sonia Gandhi from the Lok Sabha and also the Chairpersonship of the National Advisory Council (NAC).

"The course of action adopted by the government was so outrageous that our immediate response was also very firm and this firm response has led to this sequence of events", the Leader of Opposition said in reaction to Ms Gandhi's sudden announcement.

Advani said the opposition NDA would oppose the Centre's decision to bring an ordinance for deletion of some posts from the list of office of profit in an apparent bid to "protect" Ms Gandhi as there cannot be two standards on the issue, one for Jaya Bachchan and the other for the Congress President.

Similarly, there cannot be double standards on the issue, one for Uttar Pradesh and the other for the Centre, he said.

Advani, who was here to visit the Sankat Mochan Temple that was rocked by the terror attack on March 7, castigated the Centre for adjourning Parliament sine die yesterday in order to bring an ordinance on the issue of de-listing some posts from the office of profit.

He said such a move could not have been possible if Parliament would have been in session till May.

He alleged that the decision to shorten the length of the Budget session by the government was "unprecedented and aimed at weakening the Parliamentary and democratic institutions of our country".