Ambika Soni declined Sonia Gandhi's request to become Punjab CM after Amarinder Singh's exit, reveals book

Soni told Gandhi that choosing a non-Sikh to head the government in Punjab would have left the community with a feeling that it has been wronged by the Congress.

Sonia Gandhi wanted Ambika Soni to succeed Amarinder Singh as Punjab Chief Minister after his resignation but a new book says the senior leader refused to play into the Gandhi family’s hands and lead the party to an “impending defeat”.

A trusted lieutenant of Sonia Gandhi, Soni told her that choosing a non-Sikh to head the government in Punjab would have left the community with a feeling that it has been wronged by the Congress, which has become acceptable to them after the 1984 riots.

The book She, The Leader: Women in Indian Politics by journalist Nidhi Sharma says Soni’s decision not to take up chief ministership was likened by “many in Congress” to Sonia’s “sacrifice” in 2004 when she declined to become Prime Minister.

“Mrs Gandhi called me to say that she was convinced I should take charge. I explained that it is only now the Congress has become acceptable to the Sikh community. After the 1984 riots, the Congress has formed the government twice in Punjab. The community would have felt wronged if a Sikh had not been made the Chief Minister,” Soni is quoted as saying in the book.

Soni, who joined the party during Indira Gandhi’s years and rose in ranks during Sanjay Gandhi’s time, “did not become the king but the kingmaker in Punjab” as her choice Charanjit Singh Channi was finally accepted as the Chief Minister, the book says.

According to the book, the 79-year-old Congresswoman had shown why she has survived so long in politics. “After decades of serving the Gandhi family so loyally, she had gently but firmly declined to play into their hands and lead the party to an impending defeat,” the book says.

The book says she felt that had she accepted the assignment, the next five months (since September 2021) would have been spent “warding off attacks” from the Opposition on how a non-Sikh had been sent from Delhi to the state.

"For me it was enough that the party had thought I was suitable to be the Chief Minister. I have only wanted a place for myself in the Congress and I have got it not through sycophancy but by hard word, honesty and sacrifice,” she said.

The book describes the lives of 17 leaders, including Indira Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Vasundhare Raje, Mamata Banerjee and Brinda Karat among others.