NEW DELHI (AFP) – A relative of Mahatma Gandhi made a last ditch appeal to the government Monday to stop the iconic resistance leader's personal effects, including trademark round glasses, from being auctioned off.

The latest appeal from Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, came as New York-based Antiquorum Auctioneers said plans to sell a watch, a pair of sandals, a plate and bowl plus the glasses would go ahead this week.

"I abandoned my efforts to try and collect money to buy Gandhi's possessions after the government of India said it was determined to do whatever it could" to bring the belongings back to India, Tushar Gandhi told AFP.

"But according to my information, the government has made no effort yet to contact anyone from Antiquorum. I am really getting anxious," said Tushar Gandhi, who heads the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation in Mumbai and describes the sale as a "grave insult".

The Press Trust of India, however, quoted government officials as saying New Delhi was considering legal steps to stall the auction.