Sulking Sushma says: Sonia is not Swaraj, I will quit than call her PM

Reason: ‘‘I cannot see myself addressing Sonia Gandhi as Madam Prime Minister.’’

Kaushal is a Rajya Sabha MP belonging to the Haryana Vikas Party headed by Bansi Lal and his term is about to come to an end. Sushma has two years to go.

Speaking to The Sunday Express tonight, she said: ‘‘I communicated this decision at a meeting a few days ago with Atal Behari Vajpayee, L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Jaswant Singh and Pramod Mahajan.’’

Asked what their reaction was, she said: ‘‘All were silent. Except Jaswantji who said that Italy mein jashn mana rahe hain (they are celebrating in Italy) and look how upset our sister is.’’

It’s not clear if Sushma’s move is an individual reaction or part of bigger plan by the BJP which could trigger similar reactions from other BJP MPs, creating an unprecedented situation in the 14th Lok Sabha even before the government is sworn in.

‘‘I hope this is the start of a movement that will get other MPs to resign as well,’’ Sushma said.

Sushma’s move is seen as one that will endear her to the RSS and position her for party presidentship, now that there is a move that Venkaiah Naidu be replaced. It will also make her the symbol of the opposition to Sonia Gandhi. Sushma had taken on Sonia in Bellary in the 1999 elections and though she had been defeated, she had put up an impressive fight.

Her remarks come a day after MP Chief Minister Uma Bharti called on all parties to block Sonia Gandhi from being PM. And RSS spokesman Ram Madhav called it a ‘‘disgrace’’ that the Congress ‘‘along with retrograde Communist parties tries to foist an Italian as Prime Minister on the country because no self-respecting Indian will tolerate this humiliation.’’

Congress general secretary Ambika Soni said: ‘‘In a democracy, parties win and parties lose, and the Constitution entitles the party which gets the largest number to form the government and its leader becomes the PM. If she (Sushma) does not have faith in democratic practices, there is little I can do. One cannot be overawed by things like this.’’

In her statement, Sushma said, ‘‘These (Congress) people are saying the mandate is in favour of Sonia Gandhi. This is far from the truth. The Congress and its allies never presented her as their Prime ministerial candidate and the mandate was neither for Congress nor its coalition partners.’’