‘My inner voice tells me I must decline PM’s post, please understand force of my conviction’

In an unusual break from political tradition, Sonia said she had followed her “inner voice” on the question of becoming prime minister and “today, that inner voice tells me I must humbly decline this post.”

Projecting her decision as one of renunciation, she declared: “Power for itself has never attracted me, nor has position been my goal. My aim has always been to defend the secular foundation of our nation and the poor of our country…”

Sonia’s appeal to her party colleagues to “understand the force of my conviction” and “recognize that I will not reverse it” had no impact on partymen and women whose sense of shock and gloom quickly turned into hysteria, then anger.

At the end of three and a half hours of impassioned pleas by MPs to change her mind, Sonia cryptically said: ‘‘I can understand your pain and anguish but kindly trust and allow me to take my decision.’’

Even before she arrived at 7.05 pm, the Central Hall of Parliament—which witnessed scenes of great joy and bonhomie on Saturday when victorious MPs elected her their leader—bore a funereal air.There was a hushed silence and not the ghost of a smile on a single face. The sense of foreboding only strengthened when a solemn Priyanka Gandhi, flanked by husband Robert Vadra and brother Rahul, strode in from the far entrance to the hall.They made their way to the back benches but were ushered by fawning leaders to the front rows. Unlike last evening at 10, Janpath, when MPs had only heard “rumours,” everyone was aware of what was in store today.

That something was amiss first came to light when Sonia Gandhi, accompanied by her trusted Number 2 Manmohan Singh, emerged from Rashtrapati Bhavan and told the media that she would come back to see the President tomorrow with “letters of support.”

Since she had received letters of support from all partners of the newly named United Progressive Alliance on Saturday night itself, the remark indicated that the script had been re-written.

By late afternoon, when alliance partners were informed that she was opting out and wanted their support for a new leader of the Congress—widely expected to be Manmohan Singh though his name was not formally mentioned— yesterday’s “rumours” seemed a lot more real.

A meeting of the CPP was announced in advance, and a host of MPs, ex-MPs, and AICC leaders entered Central Hall well before the scheduled 6.30 pm meeting, waiting for the bombshell. Even before she could complete reading out her short text, MPs were on their feet shouting her down. Several of them rushed towards her while another group surrounded Priyanka and Rahul, urging them to prevail on their mother to change her mind.

Priya Ranjan Das Munshi only managed to send them back to their seats by promising that they would be allowed to speak. That opened the floodgates. For the next three and a half hours, over 40 speakers—ranging from newly elected ones such as Govinda and Sachin Pilot to veterans like Sunil Dutt and P.M. Sayeed—implored her to reconsider and declared they would not accept any one else as leader.

The common refrain: ‘‘We have won this election in your name, you are our only leader, you are betraying millions of Indians who voted for us by your decision.’’

Much of their anger was also directed against the BJP-RSS, Sushma Swaraj and Uma Bharati in particular, and they asked Sonia not to be browbeaten by their vicious campaign. ‘‘If a couple of gutters overflow, should the Ganga stop flowing?’’ asked Balkavi Bairagi, who took the Congress president to task for showing ‘‘cowardice’’ at what he called ‘‘this critical juncture of history.’’

At the end of the marathon display of absolute loyalty, laced with genuine anguish as well as Congress-style sycophancy, senior leader Pranab Mukherjee moved a resolution authorising the Congress president to ‘‘take an appropriate decision in the best interest of the country and the Congress party.’’

Agitated MPs, led by Mani Shankar Aiyar who had earlier been the first speaker to protest Sonia’s decision, refused to accept the wording of the resolution. Under their pressure, the text of the resolution was changed to read: ‘‘In the light of the sentiments expressed by members of this Congress Parliamentary Party and taking into account the unanimity of opinion, this House requests Sonia Gandhi to reconsider her decision in the best interests of the country and the Congress party.’’

In a brief response, Sonia Gandhi said: ‘‘I can understand your pain and anguish, but kindly trust and allow me to take my decision.’’

However, though she did not nominate her successor today, the tone of her statements indicated that there would be no going back.

There was some confusion over whether a fresh CPP meeting would be called to elected a new leader or the CPP’s “authorisation” to her meant she could nominate a new leader. Congress spokesman Kapil Sibal said she had full authority on the score. Today’s drama ended on an ambiguous note, promising more excitement on the “Kaun Banega Pradhan Mantri” saga tomorrow.