Sonia Gandhi was desperate to become PM in 2004: Did Natwar Singh reiterate Priyanka's words?

New Delhi, Aug 1: Natwar Singh, who once used to hold a strong command in

and later was thrown out of the party, made headlines once again with his sensational revelations about

and her party. However, soon after Singh's interview with a news TV channel, many raised questions -- did Singh reiterate

's words?

What did Sonia Gandhi say in 2009:

Sonia Gandhi won everyone's hearts with her decision of sacrificing the Prime Minister chair. Decade after her historical decision in 2004, Singh, the then close confident of Mrs Gandhi, claimed that she was not a deity of sacrifice.

Mrs Gandhi in 2004 had said, "Today my inner voice is telling me that I should politely refuse to accept the post of Prime Minister."

What did Natwar Singh say in his book:

Singh, in his upcoming book, claimed that it was not her "inner voice" but her son Rahul Gandhi who had opposed her decision to become the PM. According to Singh, Rahul had given Mrs Gandhi 24 hours time to change her mind to become PM.

Singh, the then External Affair Minister, mentioned in his book that Rahul was afraid that Mrs Gandhi would be killed like his father Rajiv Gandhi and grandmother Indira Gandhi if she would become PM.

However, this was not first that such information have come into light. Earlier Mrs Gandhi daughter -- Priyanka Vadra Gandhi too had said similar things.

Priyanka Gandhi's interview:

During one interview with NDTV, Priyanka Gandhi was asked -- You have seen what happened to your father and you have seen what happened to your grandmother, do you feel scared for your brother, your mother, yourself?

Priyanka then was quoted as saying, "No, I don't. I don't feel scared for them at all... But I did have this one moment of terror in 2004 when I peeped into her office and I saw this bunch of, you know, Lalu ji and everybody surrounding her and saying that you have to be Prime Minister, I had this one moment of complete terror. And I burst out crying. I didn't realise that I was afraid. I burst into my brother, I was like is she going to die..you think you are not scared but you are scared of losing someone else you love.."

Media reports also claimed that it was Priyanka who had conveyed Rahul's message regarding 24 hours deadline to Mrs Gandhi in 2009.

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