‘He ran the government, I ran the party’: Sonia Gandhi on power-sharing with Manmohan Singh

Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi has rejected allegations that she exercised control over the government during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime, maintaining that there was a clear division of responsibilities between her and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

In her memoir, *Belonging: A Journey of Love*, Gandhi writes that Singh was responsible for running the government, while she concentrated on leading the Congress party. She has also dismissed claims that government files were routinely sent to her from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), describing the allegations as "malicious and totally false".

Gandhi acknowledges that she offered inputs during the formation of the government, but says her suggestions were aimed at ensuring that party workers and leaders who had served the Congress during its years out of power were given due consideration.

She also reveals that she had decided, along with her children Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, months before the 2004 Lok Sabha election results that she would not become Prime Minister. Her children strongly supported the decision because of concerns about her personal safety.

Why Manmohan Singh was chosen as Prime Minister

Gandhi explains that Singh emerged as the preferred candidate for the top post partly because of his reputation as the architect of India's economic liberalisation in 1991.

His image as an economist and reformer was considered an advantage at a time when the UPA depended on Left parties for outside support. Singh's credentials were expected to reassure those concerned about the Left's influence over the coalition government.

The memoir also addresses suggestions that Gandhi had effectively functioned as the power centre during the UPA years. She insists that the arrangement was clear, with Singh handling government affairs and her role centred on the party organisation.

Sonia Gandhi reveals Pranab Mukherjee's ambition to become PM

Gandhi also writes about former President Pranab Mukherjee's reported ambition to become Prime Minister, revealing that he had raised the possibility of a change in leadership in 2010, a year after the UPA returned to power.

Mukherjee, who was among the senior-most leaders in the UPA Cabinet, had previously been linked to speculation that Gandhi was reluctant to consider him for the top post. His daughter, Sharmishtha Mukherjee, has also made references to the issue in the past.

Recalling their conversation, Gandhi writes that Mukherjee suggested that it might be time for a change at the top.

"He shocked me with the suggestion that perhaps it was time for a change at the top, which I understood as a hint of his long-held desire to become prime minister," she writes.

Gandhi says she gently changed the subject. Although Mukherjee may have been disappointed, she adds, he never made her feel that he held the decision against her.

She also places the conversation in the context of a period when Mukherjee had serious differences with former Union Home Minister P Chidambaram.

Sonia Gandhi recalls being sidelined at Shimla meeting

The memoir also revisits an uncomfortable episode at a Congress meeting in Shimla in July 2003, when internal differences had emerged over whether the party should enter into alliances with other political groups ahead of the general elections.

Gandhi recalls finding herself excluded from a discussion among party colleagues and asking what they were talking about.

"What are they discussing, I asked. There was a hesitant pause and then a hesitant answer: 'They're discussing who should lead the party in the elections'," she writes.

She says the response left her stunned and made her feel "wounded", as it suggested that some colleagues viewed her as an outsider despite her position as Congress president.

Gandhi recalls that she subsequently sent a clear message to her colleagues that she would lead the party's election campaign.

The memoir, published by HarperCollins India, revisits several personal and political experiences from Gandhi's life, including her entry into politics, her relationship with the Nehru-Gandhi family and the circumstances surrounding her decision to decline the Prime Minister's post in 2004.