Margaret Alva book reveals Sonia Gandhi, Narasimha Rao differences

Congress veteran Margaret Alva in her autobiography Courage & Commitment has revealed a deep lack of trust between former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and party president Sonia Gandhi. Sharing her conversations in the book when the high court took up the Bofors case, Mrs Alva quoted Mrs Gandhi asking her “What does the Prime Minister want to do Send me to jail ”

She recalled that she had protested with Mrs Gandhi, saying she had misunderstood.

“What has the Congress government done for me This House (10, Janpath) was allotted to me by the Chandra Shekhar government. I am not seeking any favours for myself and my children from him (Rao),” Mrs Gandhi was quoted having snapped at Mrs Alva in the book.

Incidentally, Ms Alva was a minister in the Rao Cabinet and the CBI came under her jurisdiction. After she conveyed the outburst of Mrs Gandhi to Mr Rao, the former Prime Minister is quoted in the book having snapped: “What does she want from me I cannot close the Bofors case which is before the courts. It will go on.”

Mrs Alva stated in the book that consequently she had to play an (unwilling) intercessor between the two leaders. She recalled in the book that late Rao would often call her on Sunday evenings to know the “mood at 10, Janpath”.

Mrs Alva has noted that after the demolition of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya, the undercurrent of coldness and suspicion (between Rao and Gandhi) only increased. She noted that she had tried to broker peace between the two leaders. “Before my efforts could yield results, the decision of the government (the PMO to be precise) to appeal against the Delhi high court decision to quash complaints in the Bofors case was announced. “Soniaji was doubly upset with him (Rao),” Ms Alva noted in the book.

Incidentally, Ms Alva explained in the book that even though the CBI came under her ministry, “I had neither been asked nor told about the development, and all instructions had gone directly through A.N. Verma when the Prime Minister was abroad.” Ms Alva has also chronicled her confrontation with late Sanjay Gandhi when he was dictating terms in the 1970s.