Former Union Minister Najma Heptulla, in her autobiography ‘In Pursuit of Democracy: Beyond Party Lines’, has mentioned some of the incidents that took place in the Congress Party under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi. He raised questions on the working style of the party after Sonia Gandhi became the party president in 1998 and said that at that time direct communication between the party workers and the leadership had broken down. Direct communication with 10 Janpath was cut off because the junior officers working there were just clerks and other staff, who were not actual party workers.
Najma Heptulla was with the Congress party till 2004 before joining BJP. Heptulla, who became a Rajya Sabha member in 1980 and was the Deputy Speaker of the Upper House for 17 years, has revealed several incidents in her autobiography that show the growing distrust between her and then Congress President Sonia Gandhi. He has also told in his autobiography that before joining BJP in 2004, the environment had changed for him in the Congress Party.
The former Union minister wrote, “There was a lack of quality of communication between us and no idea who were in our leader’s in-group or out-group, or how we could support his point of view. “Began to decline.” Najma Heptulla recounted an incident in 1999 when she wanted to call Sonia Gandhi from Berlin to inform her of her becoming president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), but one of Gandhi’s staffers first said, ‘Mam is busy’ and Then ‘Please remain on the line’. He told that he was made to wait for an hour, but Sonia Gandhi never came to talk to him on the phone. The former Rajya Sabha MP wrote in his book, “Every country, culture and family has such special moments which are above the flow of ordinary life. This was such a moment for me, which left me forever feeling of rejection. However, this rejection was later proven correct.”
When Sonia Gandhi wanted him to leave Congress
Former Manipur Governor Najma Heptulla, in her autobiography ‘In Pursuit of Democracy: Beyond Party Lines’, has also mentioned another incident of 1999, when many senior Congress leaders were feeling marginalized in the party. Sharad Pawar, PA Sangma and Tariq Anwar left the party over the issue of Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin and formed the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Rajesh Pilot and Jitendra Prasad also stood against the Gandhi family. Najma Heptulla remained in the party, but Sonia began to suggest that she would eventually leave the party and align with Sharad Pawar. Heptulla described it as strange, saying, “This idea of Sonia was strange. She trusted very few people and I felt that she did not trust me.”
Comparison of Sonia’s Congress with Indira Gandhi’s era
Heptulla compared Sonia Gandhi’s Congress with the era of her mother-in-law Indira Gandhi. Heptulla lashed out at Sonia, saying, “We were operating out of more than just deep distrust. We were cut off from Sonia Gandhi and could not communicate with her. This was a sharp and serious change from the earlier Congress culture. Indira Gandhi always worked with an open heart. She warmly welcomed every visitor from across the country.” The former Congress leader said, “I could approach Indira Gandhi any time and in my own way could give her information about things at the ground level. I never criticized her strongly, but only pointed out the things What I experienced at the ground level.”
Heptulla, the longest serving presiding officer of any parliament in the world, criticized Sonia Gandhi’s working style as communication lines within the organization had broken down. “As Congress followers we no longer had an active role in giving feedback to our leader, which is so important for the good performance of the party,” he said in his autobiography.
Sonia Gandhi’s behavior with Sitaram Kesari
Najma Heptulla, in her autobiography, also raised questions on Sonia Gandhi’s behavior with senior Congress leaders Sitaram Kesari and PV Narasimha Rao. He told that after Sitaram Kesri was elected President of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) in 1997, one day he was waiting for Sonia Gandhi at 10 Janpath, when Kesri was also asked to wait. As time passed, he became angry and said, “I am the treasurer of the party, not an ordinary member. She (Heptulla) is the Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha. We are not here for formalities, but to discuss serious issues.” Have we come to do this and we are being asked to wait like this?” Heptulla wrote that after this insult, Kesari left from there.
Heptulla said, “When Sonia Gandhi decided to take over the leadership of the party from Sitaram Kesri, many questions were raised within the party about her ability and experience. Her lack of experience, her Italian background and her proficiency in Hindi Concerns were raised about his readiness and suitability for the post due to his limited fluency and I worked tirelessly to convince the party leadership and workers that he was indeed ready and capable of being an effective leader. Are.”
Sonia Gandhi’s relationship with PV Narasimha Rao
The former Union Minister wrote in his autobiography that Sonia Gandhi had a strained relationship with former Prime Minister PV Narasimha. He told that Sonia Gandhi wanted Rao to report to her, but Rao refused and after that he had to suffer the consequences. He said, “Congress never recognized the economic reforms carried out by Rao which led to economic transformation in the country. When he was accused of corruption, which was never proved, Congress did not support him and when When he lost the elections in 1996, Rao spent his last days without friends and suffering from poor health. The last insult was that after his death, the Congress performed his last rites in Delhi. Didn’t let it happen.”
Revealed the reasons for leaving Congress
Former Union minister Najma Heptulla held Sonia Gandhi responsible for her decision to leave the Congress in 2004. He told in his autobiography that he had to face harassment several times from people close to Congress President Sonia Gandhi. Heptulla alleged that people close to Sonia Gandhi used to pressure him to leave his work in Parliament and join Congress programs, such as participating in dharnas or garlanding the statues of former Congress leaders on their birth and death anniversaries. . She also revealed that she used to help Sonia Gandhi in preparing all her speeches, but despite this her support was never enough for Sonia. “When I was left out of important party decisions that were directly related to me, I felt isolated,” Heptulla said.
“Sonia Gandhi never called me”
He also raised the issue of complete sabotage of the party’s affairs by the Gandhi family. “The Congress party became stagnant and leadership development was halted because of Sonia Gandhi’s insecurities. Every leader was forced to work under the control of a family that controlled everything,” he alleged. Najma Heptulla also said that Sonia Gandhi never called her nor did she ever contact Sonia Gandhi. On 10 June 2004, he resigned from the post of Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and also resigned from the Congress Party. After this Najma Heptulla joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in July 2004.
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