The Congress on Monday said it will give a 'strong and befitting reply' to the Election Commission notice to party chief Sonia Gandhi on a disqualification complaint against her over a Belgian honour, maintaining the petition deserved to be rejected at the threshold.
"We have received the notice a couple of days ago. We have three weeks (to reply). We will give a strong and befitting reply in which we will show that the complaint, taken as given, deserves to be rejected at the threshold," All-India Congress Committee spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said.
He said the party had earlier written to the EC, based on the reports that had appeared in the newspapers, that no case was made out. "We will repeat that in our detailed reply," Singhvi said.
He said the reply would state that Gandhi has neither sought nor been granted any membership of any association, that she has not paid any subscription, has absolutely no pecuniary benefit and holds no office of profit.
"To receive a civil decoration and to call it a foreign allegiance or adherence is way, way off the mark. All this will be elaborated with materials in our reply, which will be sent within time in due course," Singhvi said.
He said the complaint disclosed no actionable claim and was 'completely false, frivolous and vexatious'.
Singhvi rejected the idea that tourism minister Ambika Soni, who had accompanied Gandhi on the visit to Belgium in 2006 when she was given the honour, was to blame for the controversy.
"The facts which are clear, available, even taking the complaint as given, make out not even a case for notice. So there is no question of allocating blame anywhere," he said.
He said the response given to the EC even before Gandhi was served the notice was on behalf of the Congress party and President.
Sixty-one-year-old Gandhi was served a notice following a complaint from an advocate from Kerala seeking her disqualification from the Lok Sabha alleging the Belgian honour amounted to owing allegiance to the constitution of that country.
The Commission also asked the external affairs ministry to furnish details within three weeks about Gandhi receiving the 'Order of Leopold' from the Belgium government in November 2006.
© 2026