Sonia Gandhi reveals how Pranab Mukherjee hinted at replacing PM Manmohan Singh

Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee hinted at his "long-held desire" to become prime minister during a conversation with then Congress president Sonia Gandhi in 2010, when he suggested that perhaps "it was time for a change at the top", according to Gandhi's memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love.

In the book, which hit the stands on Tuesday, Gandhi rejected allegations that she functioned as a "back seat driver" during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. She stated that she was conscious of the distinction between the roles of the prime minister and the Congress president, and believed that it was her responsibility to respect Manmohan Singh's position as head of the government.

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Gandhi writes that while she could offer Singh advice or suggestions in her capacity as party president, or disagree with him, she was determined to defer to his authority as prime minister.

"Further. I was determined not to be under any circumstance the cause of a misunderstanding that could give our opponents occasion to rejoice and weaken our government," she says.

The 526-page memoir opens with an inscription from the Rig Veda, "Move together, speak together, let your minds be in concord. United be your purpose, harmonious be your hearts, Collected be your thoughts, so that you dwell in togetherness, in wholeness."

Gandhi describes the arrangement between the party and the government during the UPA years as an "unspoken division of responsibility", which she says functioned smoothly, with "the government under Dr. Manmohan Singh, and the party under me".

She also recounts how the Congress leadership maintained coordination between the government and the party through a core group that met every week with the prime minister. The group included Mukherjee, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Arjun Singh, former Kerala chief minister A K Antony and Ahmed Patel.

Separately, members of the Strategy Group, which discussed matters to be taken up in Parliament, also met regularly. Gandhi says Mukherjee, whom she always addressed as Pranab ji, would sometimes stay back after these meetings for conversations.

Recalling one such interaction in 2010, Gandhi says Mukherjee was unhappy over his differences with then finance minister P Chidambaram. During a conversation, after expressing his frustration, he suggested a change in leadership, which she interpreted as an indication of his ambition to become prime minister.

"He (Pranab) had developed serious differences with the Finance Minister P Chidambaram, and on one occasion, in 2010, I think after expressing his frustration, he shocked me with the suggestion that perhaps it was time for a change at the top, which I understood as a hint of his long-held desire to become prime minister," Gandhi says.

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She adds that she steered the conversation in another direction and, although Mukherjee may have been disappointed, he never showed any resentment towards her.

Gandhi points out that the Congress subsequently nominated Mukherjee as the UPA's presidential candidate in 2012. He went on to win the election and become the country's president.

"I often called on him, mostly just to converse with the erudite and knowledgeable politician that he always remained."

Gandhi rejects allegations of wielding power behind the scenes

A substantial part of the memoir addresses allegations that Gandhi exercised authority over the government despite Manmohan Singh serving as prime minister between 2004 and 2014.

She recalls a series of media reports during the UPA years, some of which she says were fuelled by people close to the prime minister. These reports portrayed her as the person exercising real power within the government.

Gandhi also refers to a book published a decade later by one of Singh's former aides, which, according to her, repeated allegations that she had summoned files from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), intervened in administrative decisions and influenced key appointments.

"A decade later, a book was published by one of his former aides, reaffirming the malicious and totally false allegations spread all along by my opponents: that I sent for files from the prime minister's office (PMO), interfered with administrative matters, and made key appointments," she says.

She says the allegation that she accessed official files was particularly distressing, as she considered it improper for someone outside the government to do so. Gandhi adds that she had been careful to follow established rules throughout the period.

The PMO had also issued a statement categorically denying that official files had ever been shown to her, she writes.

Gandhi further cites comments made by Singh's daughter, Upinder Singh, who had criticised a book by one of his former aides, describing it as "nothing but a stab in the back. . . a huge betrayal of trust" and "a mischievous, unethical exercise".

According to Gandhi, Upinder Singh had also reaffirmed that her father's relationship with the Congress leader was based on "mutual trust and respect".

Despite this, Gandhi says, the opposition and sections of the media continued to portray her as the government's "back-seat driver".