| Kalam was willing to swear in Sonia as prime minister in 2004 |
NEW DELHI APJ Abdul Kalam was ready to swear Congress chief Sonia Gandhi as the prime minister after the 2004 polls when he was the president despite pressure from various political leaders before Manmohan Singh was nominated to head the United Progressive Alliance government.
Kalam’s stand on the political situation after the elections lifted the veil on an episode that has been intensly speculated upon that he was reluctant to appoint the Italian-born Sonia as the country’s prime minister.
In a forthright account of his five-year tenure as president in a book titled Turning Points, Kalam recalls that had Sonia staked a claim herself he would have appointed her as it was the only “constitutionally tenable” option available to him.
Kalam says he was almost certain that Sonia would head the UPA government but Rashtrapati Bhavan (Presidential House) had to rework the appointment letter after the Congress chief nominated Singh as the prime minister.
“During this time there were many political leaders who came to meet me to request me not to succumb to any pressure and appoint Sonia as the prime minister, a request that would not have been constitutionally tenable. If she had made any claim for herself I would have had no option but to appoint her,” the book says.
In his book, Kalam writes that after the poll results were announced, no party or coalition came forward to form the government for three days.
During his tenure, he says he had to take many tough decisions.
“I had applied my mind totally in an unbiased manner after eliciting opinions from legal and constitutional experts. The primary aim of all the decisions was to protect and nurture the sanctity and robustness of our constitution.”
Describing the 2004 elections as an interesting event, Kalam writes, “It was a cause of concern for me and I asked my secretaries and rushed a letter to the leader of the largest party – in this case the Congress – to come forward and stake the claim for forming the government.
National parties reacted swiftly to the revelation.
Noting that what Kalam said was nothing new, Congress spokerperson Manish Tewari said “there was certain right-wing conspiracy theories who believe in tilting the windmill and living in their own world of imagination. I hope this will disabuse their mind completely.”
BJP’s Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said: “Just because he has written this in his forthcoming book, Sonia Gandhi does not become an epitome of sacrifice. She is still the super-prime minister. She has a bigger secretariat (National Advisory Council) than the PM.”
He claimed all big decisions of the government are taken by Sonia and not Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
JD (U) President Sharad Yadav, National Democratic Alliance’s convenor, said that had Kalam spoken this in 2004, it would have carried a different level of “moral force.”
“The remarks do not carry that kind of moral force now as his revelation came eight years after the event had played out. The relevance it had at that time does not exist today,” Yadav said.
Meanwhile, NDA presidential candidate PA Sangma, who had revised his position on Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi becoming prime minister, reverted to his original stand that a person of foreign origin should not become prime minister of the country.
“That is my view now. That will be my view in future till I die. I will never support any foreigner to be prime minister or president of India. I am very clear about it,” Sangma said.
Press Trust of India
|
 |
|
|
| NEWS UPDATES |
|
|
|
|
|
|
