Says Dr Manju Malhotra, Reader of History in Panjab University's Department of Correspondence Studies: ``If Sonia Gandhi is committed to India and is capable of ruling it, she should be allowed to become the prime minister despite not being an Indian by birth.''

Pal Singh, a contract labourer and a resident of Kumar Colony, does not agree with her. Says he: ``How can you expect her to be committed to India? She wasn't even born here. She should not hold any office in our country.''

``She doesn't understand our culture and ethos. She hasn't grown up in this environment. She would invariably be influenced by foreign ideas and concepts,'' says Sanjay Sharma, a senior medical technologist at the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32.

Ramesh Thakur, a bank employee, stresses the need to lay down a constitutional criteria for becoming the prime minister of the country. ``Only an Indian can do the job well as he understands the country better, and only he should hold the PM's office,'' says he.

``The heritage of the Gandhi family does not necessarily mean that she has inculcated the same sense of patriotism that Nehru, Indira and Rajiv had'' says Shivani Sharma, an interior designer, adding, ``Her motivation for entering politics at this juncture is not her love for India.''

``Her foreign origin will pose a continuous ethical dilemma to her when she would make important decisions for the country. Also, it would not be appropriate for her to depend entirely on her party's advise for these decisions,'' says Sangeeta Pathak, a third year B. Com. student.

Mahinder Pal Singh, a businessman, feels that Sonia should be given a chance. ``We have seen the style of functioning of all our PMs. It would be good to see how a foreigner handles the job.''

Karuna Bector, a post graduate student at Punjab University, is dead opposed to Sonia becoming the country's prime minister, but she has different reasons for doing so. Says she: ``The Congress party is simply using her and the Gandhi name to get votes. They have no love lost for her.''