BJP takes swipe at Sonia Gandhi over memoir, says she was ‘Super PM’ during UPA rule

BJP National Spokesperson and MP Sudhanshu Trivedi addresses a press conference at the party headquarters in New Delhi on November 11, 2026. | Photo Credit: ANI Taking a swipe at former Congress president Sonia Gandhi following the release of her memoir, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday (November 11, 2026) claimed that she gave up the Prime Minister’s post in 2004 to become a “Super PM” by serving as National Advisory Council (NAC) chairperson when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) came to power.In the memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, Ms. Gandhi writes about the time she decided against taking up the Prime Ministership in 2004, after which Manmohan Singh took up the post.Responding to a question at a press conference, BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi said that after the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government fell by one vote in April 1999, Ms. Gandhi went to Rashtrapati Bhavan and declared “we have 272”, claiming that the comment indicated she wanted to become Prime Minister.“The President asked her to provide letters of support in writing, because the same requirement had been imposed on Atal ji in 1998. When she could not provide those letters, the matter ended. Then came 2004, when all the letters were collected in her name to form the government. And what a ‘super sacrifice’ followed! She gave up the post of Prime Minister but became the 'Super PM',” he claimed.“She became the chairperson of the National Advisory Council, with the rank of a Cabinet Minister, and that was an Office of Profit,” said Mr. Trivedi, adding that when controversy arose over the issue, Ms. Gandhi had to resign. Subsequently, he said, the Manmohan Singh government changed the rules to remove the NAC chairperson’s post from the Office of Profit category, and later she again took over the post (after she was re-elected as an MP in the bypolls).Deepavali remarksAccusing the Congress of insulting Indian culture and Hinduism, Mr. Trivedi also took exception to recent remarks about Deepavali, by Uttar Pradesh Congress working president Imran Masood, who said the festival and pollution were “human-made problems”.“Is the Congress willing to go to such lengths to insult Hinduism in its desperation to secure radical votes in the Uttar Pradesh elections?” Mr. Trivedi asked.He also targeted the Samajwadi Party by citing the remarks of its leader Sanatan Pandey, who recently said that the then SP government in Uttar Pradesh ordered firing on kar sevaks in Ayodhya to protect the Constitution.(With agency inputs) Published - November 11, 2026 08:39 pm IST