NEW DELHI: BJP Rajya Sabha member Sudhanshu Trivedi on Wednesday criticised senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi over her role during the UPA government, claiming she gave up the Prime Minister’s post in 2004 but went on to become a “Super PM” as chairperson of the National Advisory Council (NAC).Addressing a presser, Trivedi questioned how Sonia could decline the Prime Minister’s office while holding a Cabinet minister-ranked position in the NAC, alleging that she continued to wield considerable influence over the Manmohan Singh government.“She gave up the post of Prime Minister and became a Super PM. You will not find such an example anywhere in the world, where someone gives up the post of Prime Minister but takes the rank of a Cabinet minister,” Trivedi said.He also questioned Sonia’s appointment as NAC chairperson, claiming the position carried the rank of a Cabinet minister and came under the Office of Profit provisions.“She became the chairperson of the National Advisory Council (NAC), with the rank of a Cabinet minister, and that too under the Office of Profit,” he said.“I believe all these facts are before the people of the country, and everyone knows what the Super PM and Super Cabinet were during that period of governance,” Trivedi added.His remarks come amid the political debate surrounding Sonia’s memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, released on Tuesday. In the book, former Congress chief recounts the circumstances that led her to decline the Prime Minister’s post after the Congress-led alliance won the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.
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Sonia writes that she had initially ruled out becoming Prime Minister during a conversation with her children, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Both had opposed her taking the position, having experienced the trauma of the assassinations of their grandmother, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and their father, Rajiv Gandhi.She recalls that alliance leaders subsequently pressed her to accept the post, prompting her to reluctantly say “theek hai”. However, after reflecting on the decision, she told Rahul Gandhi that she would stick to her original stand.Sonia later announced in Parliament that she would follow her “inner voice” and nominated Manmohan Singh as the Congress parliamentary party leader, paving the way for him to become Prime Minister.
