As the news of Mallikarjun Kharge being elected as the new party chief in Congress broke, discussions of Sonia Gandhi’s alleged remote control over the UPA government’s functioning surfaced again. Journalist Tavleen Singh’s remarks in this regard created quite a stir.
In Her remarks to India Today, Singh said, “Don’t forget we are dealing with a lady who could make the Prime Minister of India break the Official Secrets Act and send secret files [to her]. She was nobody in the government.”
When countered by P Chidambaram and Praveen Chakravarty, Tavleen said, “I do need to prove it. Just go back to that time. There was a big controversy about that. There were stories written about it. Somebody working in the Prime Minister sent the files.” When asked to prove it, she said, “Give me a chance to do it. I cannot right now, but I can.”
Since the remarks, there has been uproar among the Congress party against her. Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram said, “Yesterday, a senior journalist made a wild and outrageous allegation against Dr Manmohan Singh on an India Today TV show. She alleged that secret files of the PMO were taken to Congress President Mrs Sonia Gandhi in violation of the Official Secrets Act. Watching the show, I protested immediately.”
He added, “Mr Praveen Chakravarti on the panel challenged her to produce evidence. After some defensive replies, she agreed to produce evidence. We wish to remind her that her time to produce evidence starts NOW. We challenge her to prove her wild and irresponsible charge against the former Prime Minister,” in a threatening tone.
Quoting Chidambaram, Singh said, “People who worked in the PMO have named officials who carried government files to 10 Janpath. Former ministers admit to taking orders from Sonia Gandhi. She was de facto PM then and will remain de facto Congress President now.”
Congress workers and leaders are fuming over Tavleen Singh’s remarks. Congress Social Media and Digital Platforms head Supriya Shrinate said, “Absolutely unacceptable. Your visceral hatred for Mrs Gandhi is no excuse for reckless accusations against her and former PM Dr Manmohan Singh. No part of the Officials Secrets Act was ever violated, as rightfully asserted by Praveen Chakravarti. You owe an apology, Tavleen Singh.”
Quoting Chidambaram, Praveen said, “A grumpy gossip columnist makes wild accusations on national TV against the globally respected former PM Dr Manmohan Singh. We demand she provides evidence immediately as she promised. Failing which she will be made to face severe consequences.”
Congress leader Pawan Khera said, “Either Tavleen Singh present the evidence or be ready for further legal proceedings. [We have] tolerated a lot. This nonsense will not work anymore.”
Congress leader Gaurav Pandhi said, “Tavleen Singh is not a journalist but a darbari herself who has been fed treats all her life outside the RSS headquarters. It’s time Tavleen Singh proves her ridiculous claim of ‘files from Dr Singh’s PMO being sent to Smt Sonia Gandhi’ OR Face A Trial In Court.”
Congress supporter Sanjukta Basu said, “You’ve spread this narrative for almost a decade without proof. I hope at least now with a stronger communication and legal team, Congress won’t let it fly without legal action and hope you are ready with evidence when a legal notice are sent.”
While there was some ‘grace’ in the replies of the Congress leaders, the supporters of the party did not bother about the language of their remarks, they immediately started personal attacks on her life and character. A Congress supporter, without taking Tavleen’s name, said, “She just wanted to sleep with Rajiv… She wanted to be his Mistress… Hence these deep wounds.”
Sonia Gandhi was the “real boss,” as revealed by information in public
While Congress has launched an attack on Tavleen Singh to shield allegations against Sonia Gandhi, the information available in the public domain is damning. In April 2014, a book titled ‘The Accidental Prime Minister — The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh’ by Sanjaya Baru was released in which there were some shocking revelations. Baru was the media advisor of then PM. He painted a picture of then PM Manmohan Singh as someone who was honest and hardworking. However, he was “defanged” by the “first family,” as per the book.
Baru wrote in the book that through bureaucrat Pulok Chatterjee, the principal secretary to the Prime Minister, then-Congress President Sonia Gandhi was “privy to the files to be cleared by the PM.” He noted, “[Chaterjee] had regular, almost daily meetings with Sonia at which he was said to brief her on the key policy issues of the day and seek her instructions on the important files to be cleared by the PM.”
His book had made Congress leaders jump into denial mode. Economic Times quoted a source close to then PM saying Manmohan Singh was upset by the ‘backstabbing’ by Baru. He said, “Baru sent a copy of the book with a note saying that he was traumatized by the events of 2009 when he was not allowed to join the PMO again. So, many insiders feel that this book is the result of his disappointment in not getting his PMO job back. Everyone in the PMO is appalled by what has appeared in the book.”
Then BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said, “This just proves what we have been alleging all along that there is a twin power-sharing system in this government where approvals were given by Sonia Gandhi… There was no accountability for her actions. Our stand has been vindicated that decisions were taken by one person and executed by another. The person wielding authority was beyond the pale of questionability.”
Baru further said in his book that in the first cabinet of Singh, no one felt they owed their position or portfolio to the then PM. At the same time, The Congress spokespersons did their best to project Sonia Gandhi as the “boss.” Baru added, “He would always be tormented by the question of whether he was his own man or Sonia’s puppet.”
Baru said in his book that the second term of Manmohan Singh, with victory in the Lok Sabha elections in 2009, brought some hope for him. However, “Sonia Gandhi nipped that hope in the bud by offering a finance portfolio to Pranab (Mukherjee).” Baru added that Manmohan Singh was inclined to give the portfolio to his principal economic adviser C Rangarajan. He said that the ex PM was against the induction of A Raja, but within 24 hours, he caved to Congress and DMK pressure.
Sonia Gandhi ‘the proxy PM’
In 2017, Indian express published a report suggesting that the Centre had decided to make 710 files of the National Advisory Council (NAC) public. These filed provided a glimpse of the ecosystem of a ‘super government’ that flourished between 2004 and 2014 with no accountability to the people. Sonia Gandhi, who was the chairman of NAC, exercised policy-making in several sectors, including power, disinvestment, coal, governance, social and industrial sectors, and real estate.
The files revealed that then PM Manmohan Singh’s UPA government followed up on the suggestions provided by NAC for decision-making. NAC intervened in the government functionalities using the bureaucrats who often got summoned to NAC’s office. The NAC chairman would write to ministers and seek compliance reports. As per the files that were made public, it was clear that the UPA government had no choice but to implement the recommendations sent by NAC.
A note in the file from October 29, 2005, read, “It was agreed that while implementation of the various recommendations of the commission would be the direct responsibility of the government agencies and other institutions, it would still be imperative to monitor and evaluate this process, closely, independently and credibly.”
Another note from the files read, “The recommendations on ‘Development of sports in the NE’ have already been communicated to the government by the chairperson vide letters dated February 21, 2014. The recommendations on ‘Development of cooperatives in India’ are also being sent to the government with the approval of the chairperson.”
In a file that had information on the Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, there was a letter from Sonia Gandhi to the PM dated September 16, 2004. In the letter, she was informed about the government’s plan to reconstitute the Disinvestment Commission. Sonia had written, “I would like to suggest that the first item in terms of reference of the new board should be such as to enable it to look into ways and means for strengthening public sector enterprises in general and making them more autonomous and professional. The functioning of the board should not be limited only to restructuring or advising on the closure or sale of public sector enterprises that are referred to it by the government. I hope this matter will be considered on priority and a clear decision taken before the constitution of the board for the reconstruction of public sector enterprises.”
Notably, the recommendations by Sonia Gandhi were accepted and carried out. In another letter to the PM regarding instituting an apex mechanism for the manufacturing sector, Sonia said, “I thought that the issues outlined above needed to be taken up without delay for further consideration in the government.” In reply to the recommendation, it was revealed, “A special mechanism in the form of a high-level committee on manufacturing for implementation has been created as suggested in your letter to the PM.”
