The BJP leader criticised the Congress leader's role as National Advisory Council chairperson during the UPA government.
BJP Rajya Sabha member and spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi criticised senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday regarding her role during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) administration. According to reports by The Times of India, Trivedi alleged that while Gandhi declined the Prime Minister's post in 2004, she became a “Super PM” by serving as the chairperson of the National Advisory Council (NAC).
Addressing a press conference, Trivedi questioned how Gandhi could relinquish the highest office while holding a position with the rank of a Cabinet minister. He claimed the NAC chairperson role carried such rank and fell under the Office of Profit provisions. He stated that such an arrangement, where a person declines the premiership but retains Cabinet-level status, is an example not found elsewhere in the world.
Trivedi's comments follow the Tuesday release of Gandhi's memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love. In the book, the former Congress chief explains her decision to turn down the premiership after the Congress-led alliance won the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.
Gandhi wrote that her children, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, were against her taking the role due to the trauma of the assassinations of Rajiv Gandhi and Indira Gandhi. Although she initially gave a hesitant agreement to alliance leaders, she later decided to maintain her initial refusal. She eventually informed Parliament that she would act on her conscience and named Manmohan Singh as the leader of the Congress parliamentary party.
