A fresh controversy over the Congress party’s internal power dynamics has erupted after former Congress president Sonia Gandhi made an interesting revelation about former President Pranab Mukherjee in her memoir Belonging: A Journey of Love, published by HarperCollins India on 10 November 2026.
Recounting a 2010 conversation with Mukherjee, when he was serving as Finance Minister in the UPA-II government, Sonia Gandhi wrote that he had expressed major differences with then Finance Minister P Chidambaram before suggesting that perhaps “it was time for a change at the top”. Gandhi interpreted the remark as a hint of Mukherjee’s long-standing ambition to become Prime Minister. She said the suggestion had shocked her and that she gently changed the subject.
Her account did not go down well with Mukherjee’s daughter, Sharmistha Mukherjee. Taking to X, she questioned why her father’s political ambition should have come as a surprise, particularly given his decades of experience in politics and governance. “What’s there to get ‘shocked’ about? Is it a crime to be ambitious?” she asked. She also pointed out that her father had risen from a humble background through merit and hard work, unlike those who benefited from dynastic entitlements. In a pointed reference to the Gandhi-Nehru family, she questioned whether Sonia Gandhi was surprised that someone outside the dynasty could even aspire to become Prime Minister.
However, this is not the first time that Sonia Gandhi’s leadership and the circumstances surrounding her decision to decline the Prime Minister’s post have come under scrutiny. Back in 2014, a former Congress insider made explosive claims about what really happened in May 2004, when Sonia Gandhi declined the Prime Minister’s post despite the Congress-led UPA securing victory in the general elections.
The man making those claims was former External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh. And according to his account, Sonia Gandhi and her daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra personally visited his residence shortly before his autobiography was published, seeking the removal of one particular episode.
The former Congress insider who turned against Sonia Gandhi
K. Natwar Singh was not an ordinary political commentator. A former diplomat who entered active politics, he served as India’s External Affairs Minister in the UPA-I government and enjoyed a close association with the Nehru-Gandhi family for decades.
His relationship with the Gandhi family reportedly went back several decades. In his autobiography, Singh recalled how former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had personally informed him about Rajiv Gandhi’s impending marriage before the news became public.
However, the relationship deteriorated following the controversy surrounding the United Nations’ Volcker report on the Iraq Oil-for-Food programme in 2005. Singh was named in the report and subsequently dropped from the Union Cabinet.
Feeling abandoned by the Congress leadership, he eventually left the party in 2008.
Singh later claimed that he did not meet Sonia Gandhi for eight and a half years after their relationship broke down.
That changed on 7 May 2014.
‘They did not come to have coffee with me’: The 2014 meeting
In his 2014 autobiography One Life Is Not Enough, Natwar Singh recounted an unexpected visit by Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to his residence.
The timing was significant. His book was about to hit the market, and according to Singh, the two Gandhi family members had come to discuss a particular passage that they wanted removed.
Singh described the meeting as an emotional one. Sonia Gandhi hugged him and apologised after hearing about the difficulties he had faced following the Volcker controversy.
She also told him that he was her closest friend and someone with whom she had shared things she had not even told her children.
When Sonia reportedly said that she had been unaware of the difficulties he had encountered, Singh challenged her explanation, saying that nothing happened in the Congress without her knowledge or approval.
But the most important part of the meeting was the request to edit his autobiography.
Singh refused.
He subsequently discussed the episode during an interview with propagandist Karan Thapar. Asked whether Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka could simply deny his account of the meeting, Singh responded with a line that became synonymous with the controversy.
“They did not come to have coffee with me.”
His argument was straightforward: their visit itself demonstrated that the passage had caused concern.
What revelation did Sonia Gandhi want removed?
The controversial passage concerned 18 May 2004, when Sonia Gandhi declined to become Prime Minister despite being chosen as the UPA’s leader following its electoral victory.
At the time, the decision was widely portrayed as an extraordinary act of political sacrifice. Sonia Gandhi invoked her “inner voice” and announced that she would not occupy the country’s highest executive office.
Natwar Singh offered a very different explanation in his autobiography.
According to his account, the decision was closely linked to objections raised by her son, Rahul Gandhi.
Singh claimed that a meeting took place involving Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, family friend Suman Dubey, Priyanka Gandhi and himself.
During the meeting, Priyanka conveyed Rahul Gandhi’s strong opposition to his mother becoming Prime Minister.
In the book, Singh wrote:
“Rahul was vehemently opposed to his mother becoming Prime Minister, fearing that she would lose her life, much like his grandmother and his father. He had his way. That was the reason for her not becoming Prime Minister.”
Singh further claimed that Rahul had given his mother an ultimatum, making it clear that he would not allow her to become Prime Minister because of his fears for her safety.
Thus, the episode publicly presented as Sonia Gandhi’s personal decision to follow her conscience was described by Singh as a decision influenced by her son’s insistence.
It is important to note that these were Natwar Singh’s claims, not an independently established account of the events.
Congress hits back at Natwar Singh
The revelations triggered a strong reaction from the Congress party.
Senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi dismissed the claims as politically motivated and suggested that Singh was attempting to generate publicity to sell his autobiography.
Ajay Maken also described the allegations as ridiculous.
Singh’s own strained relationship with Sonia Gandhi became an important part of the controversy. Critics argued that his bitterness following the Volcker affair could have influenced his account.
His autobiography was also deeply critical of Sonia Gandhi, describing her political methods in unflattering terms and making several allegations about her functioning within the Congress party.
Nevertheless, the episode raised questions about the extent to which decisions concerning the country’s leadership were influenced by the Gandhi family and its internal considerations.
Sonia Gandhi promised to tell her side of the story
Following the controversy, Sonia Gandhi indicated that she would write her own book and present her version of events.
Twelve years later, that memoir has finally arrived.
In Belonging: A Journey of Love, Sonia Gandhi has revisited her political journey and several important episodes from the UPA years, including Pranab Mukherjee’s alleged Prime Ministerial ambitions.
Her recollection has now prompted Sharmistha Mukherjee to defend her father’s right to aspire to the top post, questioning the political culture in which such ambitions could apparently come as a surprise.
There is an interesting parallel between the two controversies.
In 2014, Natwar Singh challenged the popular narrative surrounding Sonia Gandhi’s decision to decline the Prime Minister’s post, claiming that Rahul Gandhi had played a decisive role.
In 2026, Sonia Gandhi’s own memoir has reopened the debate over whether Pranab Mukherjee’s ambition to become Prime Minister was viewed with discomfort within the Congress leadership.
Natwar Singh passed away in August 2024 and did not live to see Sonia Gandhi publish her memoir.
But his autobiography, One Life Is Not Enough, remains a significant account of the political intrigues and internal power equations of the Congress party during the UPA years.
And his famous remark about Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka’s visit continues to capture the intrigue surrounding the episode: they did not come to have coffee with him.
