Sonia Gandhi Says Manmohan Singh Ran UPA Government While She Led the Congress Party

Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi has revealed in her memoir that power was clearly divided during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, with former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh leading the government while she remained in charge of the Congress party.

In her book, Belonging: A Journey of Love, Gandhi rejected allegations that government files were routinely sent to her for approval, describing claims that she summoned files from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) as “malicious and totally false”.

She said her involvement in government formation was largely aimed at ensuring that Congress leaders and workers who had served the party during its years out of power were given due consideration.

Gandhi clarified that although she provided inputs during the formation of the government, Singh independently headed the administration, while she focused on managing the party.

Gandhi had decided against becoming Prime Minister

The memoir also reveals that Gandhi, along with her children Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, had decided months before the 2004 general election results that she would not become Prime Minister.

According to Gandhi, her children strongly insisted on the decision because of concerns about her personal safety.

Following the Congress-led UPA’s victory in the 2004 elections, Manmohan Singh was chosen to lead the government.

His selection was also influenced by his reputation as the architect of India’s economic liberalisation in 1991, which Gandhi believed would help address concerns surrounding the Left parties’ decision to support the UPA government from outside.

The revelations offer Gandhi’s account of the relationship between the Congress leadership and the Prime Minister’s Office during the UPA years, addressing long-standing questions about the division of authority within the government.