“Gave Up PM Post, Became Super PM”: BJP’s Sudhanshu Trivedi Targets Sonia Gandhi

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson and MP Sudhanshu Trivedi on Wednesday launched a fresh attack on the Congress, questioning Sonia Gandhi's role during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Trivedi alleged that Sonia Gandhi, despite declining the Prime Minister's post after the Congress-led alliance came to power in 2004, continued to exercise considerable influence over the government through her position as chairperson of the National Advisory Council (NAC).

“She gave up the post of Prime Minister and became a Super PM. You will not find such an example anywhere in the world, where someone gives up the post of Prime Minister but takes the rank of a Cabinet Minister,” Trivedi said.

He questioned her appointment as NAC chairperson, pointing out that the position carried the rank of a Cabinet Minister. He also raised questions over the post under the provisions governing the Office of Profit.

“I believe all these facts are before the people of the country, and everyone knows what the Super PM and Super Cabinet were during that period of governance,” he added.

"POLITICS SINKING TO NEW LOWS": TRIVEDI TARGETS KHARGE

Trivedi also criticised Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge over his November 7 Diwali greeting, in which he described the festival as “Khushiyon Ki Eid”.

“Diwali has just passed, and today is the occasion of Bhai Dooj. While the country is moving towards new heights of development, politics appears to be sinking to new lows,” he said.

Questioning Kharge's choice of words, Trivedi alleged that the remark reflected a disregard for India's religious and cultural traditions. He also pointed to Kharge's Karnataka background, saying festivals are commonly referred to as “Utsav” or “Habba” in Kannada.

The BJP spokesperson also targeted Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi over his reported description of the Indian economy as “dead”. He argued that gold and silver purchases during Dhanteras reflected the strength of the economy.

Trivedi further criticised the Congress over the appointment of a former Samajwadi Party MP as the party's Uttar Pradesh working president, referring to an earlier controversial remark attributed to the leader.

QUESTIONS SONIA GANDHI'S ACCOUNT OF BABRI DEMOLITION

Trivedi also questioned an account reportedly given by Sonia Gandhi in an interview, in which she recalled being moved to tears while watching the demolition of the disputed structure in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.

Questioning the account, he said there was no live telecast of the demolition and asked how Gandhi could have witnessed the scenes.

Describing the remarks as part of a larger pattern, Trivedi alleged that the three statements reflected what he called the Congress party's “organised anti-India and anti-Hindu mindset”.

He also responded to the Samajwadi Party's proposed show of strength in Ayodhya on December 12, claiming that the event would demonstrate the unity of Indian society and the BJP's ideological support base.

Accusing the Congress and Samajwadi Party of insulting Hindu religion and Indian culture or attempting to mislead people over them, he alleged that opposition parties were pursuing “radical minority appeasement”, while the BJP's policies focused on development.

MEMOIR REVISITS 2004 PM DECISION

Trivedi's remarks come amid a political debate surrounding Sonia Gandhi's memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, released on Tuesday. In the book, she recounts the circumstances that led her to decline the Prime Minister's post after the Congress-led alliance won the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.

Gandhi writes that she had initially ruled out becoming Prime Minister during a conversation with her children, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Both opposed her taking the position, having experienced the trauma of the assassinations of their grandmother, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and father, Rajiv Gandhi.

She recalls that alliance leaders subsequently pressed her to accept the post, prompting her to reluctantly respond, “theek hai”. However, after reflecting on the decision, she informed Rahul Gandhi that she would stick to her original stand.

Gandhi later announced in Parliament that she would follow her “inner voice” and nominated Dr Manmohan Singh as the Congress Parliamentary Party leader, paving the way for him to become Prime Minister.

The BJP's latest attack follows the political exchange over Kharge's Diwali greeting. Congress MP Pawan Khera defended the remark, arguing that Eid also means a festival or celebration, while NCP-SP spokesperson Clyde Crasto accused the BJP of politicising religious occasions.

With inputs from ANI