Former Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee appeared to hint at his long-standing ambition to become Prime Minister during a conversation with then Congress president Sonia Gandhi in 2010, she writes in her memoir Belonging: A Journey of Love.
Gandhi recalls that Mukherjee, after expressing frustration over his differences with then Finance Minister P Chidambaram, suggested that it might be time for a change at the top. She understood the remark as an indirect reference to his desire to become Prime Minister.
During the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) years, a core group met every week with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to maintain coordination between the Congress party and the government. The group included Mukherjee, who had served in Indira Gandhi’s Cabinet in the 1970s; former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Arjun Singh; former Kerala Chief Minister A K Antony; and Ahmed Patel.
Gandhi also writes that she and other members regularly met as part of a Strategy Group to discuss matters that were to be raised in Parliament. Mukherjee would sometimes remain behind after these meetings for conversations with her.
Recalling the 2010 exchange, Gandhi says she changed the subject after interpreting Mukherjee’s suggestion as a reference to his ambition for the top constitutional executive post. Although he may have been disappointed, she adds that he never gave her the impression that he held the episode against her.
Congress eventually nominated Mukherjee as the UPA’s candidate for President in 2012. He was elected to the highest office in the Republic. Gandhi says she often visited him, primarily to speak with the erudite and knowledgeable politician he remained throughout his public life.
Sonia Gandhi rejects ‘back-seat driver’ allegations
In the memoir, Gandhi also addresses allegations that she exercised real authority during the period when Manmohan Singh served as Prime Minister from 2004 to 2014.
She refers to a series of media stories, some of which she says were encouraged by people close to Singh. Gandhi writes that she was conscious that Singh was the Prime Minister and that, while she could offer opinions or suggestions as Congress president and disagree with him, her responsibility was to defer to him.
Gandhi says a book published a decade later by one of Singh’s former aides repeated what she describes as false allegations promoted by her political opponents. These included claims that she had summoned files from the Prime Minister’s Office, intervened in administrative matters and influenced key appointments.
She says the allegation that troubled her most was that she had examined official files, which she considered improper for anyone outside the government. Gandhi adds that she had always been careful to follow rules, particularly during the UPA period.
According to Gandhi’s account, the Prime Minister’s Office issued a categorical denial that official files had ever been shown to her.
She also cites an interview in which Manmohan Singh’s daughter, Upinder Singh, described the book as “nothing but a stab in the back”, “a huge betrayal of trust” and “a mischievous, unethical exercise”. Upinder Singh affirmed that her father’s relationship with Gandhi was based on “mutual trust and respect”.
Gandhi writes that opposition parties and sections of the media nevertheless repeatedly sought to portray her as the government’s “back-seat driver”.