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Jaya mounts fresh attack on Sonia

She repeatedly referred to Gandhi as Mrs Antonio Maino from Italy and condemned Sonia and her relatives for using her position in India for their personal benefit.

She said the Centre should bring in a legislation banning foreigners from occupying the high offices. "If need be, the Centre should convene the joint session of Parliament for this purpose, like the one they did for passing POTA," she added

The Tamil Nadu chief minister said that she was prepared to travel throughout the country to tell the people that Sonia lacked 'love and loyalty for the country' and also the 'political acumen and statesmanship'.

She claimed that Sonia had taken up the Indian citizenship only to help Rajiv Gandhi [her husband and former prime minister] politically and questioned why she delayed applying for Indian citizenship till 1983, though she got married to Rajiv Gandhi in 1969.

She had applied for a permit to stay in India for five years in 1969 and renewed it twice, Jaya said.

After Sanjay Gandhi's death, knowing that Rajiv Gandhi was going to be late Indira Gandhi's political heir, Sonia decided to apply for Indian citizenship, 'that too after a PIL was filed in a court questioning the propriety of a foreigner staying in the house of the Indian prime minister', she said.

She said the AIADMK had given the letter of support to Congress to form a government in 1999, thinking that the then leader of the opposition Sharad Pawar would head the government. When she came to know that Sonia would be the Congress nominee for the post, she proposed veteran CPI-M leader Jyoti Basu for the post. "Sonia scuttled the move as she did not want an Indian to become the prime minister," Jaya said.

Charging Sonia Gandhi with involvement in 'an antique smuggling case' and the 'Bofors deal case', Jayalalithaa asked the Congress spokesman S Jaipal Reddy and the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Laloo Prasad Yadav why they were supporting a woman, who had been charged in criminal cases.

"It is surprising that Reddy, who was even unafraid of Indira Gandhi, is coming to the rescue of Sonia."

"I cannot also understand Yadav, a true follower of late Ram Manohar Lohia, supporting Sonia," she said.

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