Sonia Gandhi announced yesterday that she would not become India's first foreign-born prime minister, stunning her supporters and the nation.
"The post of prime minister has not been my aim," she told members of her Congress party in the central hall of Parliament.
"I was always certain that if ever I found myself in the position I am in today, I would follow my inner voice. I humbly decline the post," she said.
PHOTO: AFP
Gandhi shunned the top job even though her Congress party and its allies trounced the Hindu-nationalist party of caretaker Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpa-yee and his Democratic National Alliance in national elections that ended last week.
She said she was acting in the interest of the nation.
Her party reacted with uproar. Congress lawmakers shouted and pleaded with Gandhi to change her mind. She had to stop speaking several times to get the audience to quiet down.
"I request you to accept my decision," she said, adding that she would not reconsider.
Her decision came after Hindu nationalist outrage grew against her Italian origins and her background as a Roman Catholic, as well as investor fears that she would not be able to withstand demands from leftist allies to peel back market-driven reforms that have made India's economy boom.
Earlier yesterday, Gandhi met with President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam but did not, as widely expected, leave with his approval to form a minority government that would be dependent on the outside support of two communist parties.
"It is my inner voice, my conscience," she said of her decision to withdraw.
"My responsibility at this critical time is to provide India with a secular government that is strong and stable," Gandhi said.
Congress sources said Gandhi had put forward Manmohan Singh and Pranab Kumar Mukerjee, two former finance ministers, as possible candidates for the prime minister's post.
Somnath Chatterjee, a legislator from the Communist Party of India-Marxist, suggested that Gandhi's decision was based on fears for her family, which is India's top political dynasty.
"There are rumors that her children are against her becoming prime minister, maybe because of security reasons," he said.
Some Hindu nationalists took to the streets yesterday saying a foreigner should not lead India, even though Gandhi has been an Indian citizen for more than two decades.
"A foreigner becoming the prime minister of the country will put national security and the country's self-respect in jeopardy," Uma Bharti, a former sports minister in outgoing Vajpayee's government, was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India news agency.
Also See Story:
Investors cautiously return to battered Indian stock market
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a
RSS