Sonia says she refused PM post, BJP counters: Kalam refused to swear her in

BJP leader Dinesh Pratap Singh has claimed that Sonia Gandhi wanted to become Prime Minister in 2004 but was stopped by then President APJ Abdul Kalam, who considered her ineligible for the post because of her Italian roots.Reacting to the launch of the Congress veteran's memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, Singh claimed that the party later portrayed her decision not to become Prime Minister as an act of sacrifice, projecting her as “tyag ki devi” (the goddess of sacrifice).Speaking in Raebareli, Singh claimed that Sonia Gandhi and the All India Congress Committee (AICC) had written to the then President seeking an oath-taking ceremony for her as Prime Minister.“The entire country knows why Sonia Gandhi refused the PM post. Sonia Gandhi and AICC had written to the then President that she be administered the oath of office as the PM. The then President, APJ Abdul Kalam, clearly refused to administer the oath of office as Prime Minister to a woman of foreign origin,” Singh said. “When President Kalam refused to do so, a message was sent across the country that Sonia Gandhi is 'tyag ki devi'. She mentioned in her memoir that she had decided that she would not take an oath as Prime Minister. But the truth is that the then President had deemed her ineligible for the post of PM,” he alleged.Sonia Gandhi, however, offers a different account of the events in her memoir, which was released on Tuesday. She writes that she remained conflicted about accepting the position until she decided to follow her “inner voice." She writes that after deciding not to take up the Prime Minister's post following the Congress-led alliance's victory in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, she had to decide who would lead the government.Gandhi says she chose Manmohan Singh because she considered him a person of “unquestionable” integrity, with a deep understanding of governance.She also believed his experience would reassure those who had doubts about the UPA government's ability to govern and continue policies initiated years earlier.“There were several senior colleagues, seasoned and qualified for the post, who would have been more than willing to accept it but amongst all of them was one who had long been in my sight as a person above reproach, and possessed a deep and consummate understanding of governance. That was Dr Manmohan Singh, a member of the Congress Working Committee,” she writes.Gandhi says Singh was not aligned with any faction within the Congress.With the Communist parties also supporting the government, she felt his appointment would help address doubts about the coalition's ability to manage the economy and continue existing policies.She also describes accompanying Singh to Rashtrapati Bhavan on May 18, 2004, in her capacity as Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson and leader of the party, to stake a claim to form the government.Gandhi writes that she felt a surge of emotion as she entered the building, having visited it many times earlier with her mother-in-law, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and her husband, Rajiv Gandhi. This time, however, she was there for a different purpose.After their meeting with the President, the two returned to her residence at 10, Janpath. Gandhi says she did not discuss the Prime Minister's post with Singh during the drive back or after they reached home. Singh, like everyone else, had naturally assumed that she would take up the post.The memoir also recounts Gandhi's marriage to Rajiv Gandhi, her introduction to Indira Gandhi and her efforts to adapt to life in India, including learning Hindi, wearing sarees and adjusting to Indian food and culture. It covers major tragedies in the family, including Sanjay Gandhi's death in a plane crash, Indira Gandhi's assassination in 1984 and Rajiv Gandhi's assassination in 1991.The book also revisits the political developments surrounding the Congress-led alliance's victory in the 2004 elections, after which Sonia Gandhi declined the Prime Minister's post and continued to lead the party and the alliance that governed India for a decade.- Ends(With PTI inputs)