Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today dismissed as “canard” that late President A P J Abdul Kalam had reservations about swearing-in Sonia Gandhi as Prime Minister after the UPA won the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.
“I think this is a canard which was being spread. There is no truth in that. Kalam never questioned who will be the person who he will swear-in.
“That (who will be the Prime Minister) was the privilege, even in our Constitution, of the party or person who claims majority support. Anything that was said (about Gandhi), I think would not be true. These canards that were spread that he had hesitation in swearing in Mrs Gandhi… Was never discussed in my presence,” he told Karan Thapar in an interview on India Today TV.
Asked about speculation in this regard in the Internet then that Kalam had asked for Gandhi’s passport and other details, Singh said “It is all rubbish.”
Singh said that Kalam, who had sworn-in him as Prime Minister, was aware of the developments in the Congress party and the UPA in the run-up to the government formation then.