Congress leaders held secret meetings voicing discontent over Sonia Gandhi's leadership in 1999: Praful Patel

Close aides of Sonia Gandhi, including Captain Satish Sharma, Makhan Lal Fotedar, and others, collaborated to prevent Pawar from assuming leadership within the party or potentially becoming Prime Minister, noted Patel.

During the initial years of Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Sonia Gandhi's leadership, there was frustration among some Congress leaders, including former Lok Sabha Speaker PA Sangma, who openly criticised her foreign origin and credentials. This sentiment was shared by many leaders within the party, who held secret meetings at the homes of Sangma, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Sharad Pawar, former Congress MP Rajesh Pilot, and former Union Minister Priya Ranjan Das Munshi to express their discontent, according to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Praful Patel.

"PA Sangma, Rajesh Pilot, Sharad Pawar, and Jitendra Prasada took part in secret meetings against Sonia Gandhi's leadership," stated Patel while elaborating on how the NCP was formed in 1999, in an exclusive interview with ANI.

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During his interaction, Patel also noted that Sharad Pawar's aspirations for the Prime Minister's position were hindered by his inability to make decisive choices. He claimed that the Congress, particularly the Gandhi family, never fully trusted Pawar and had betrayed him multiple times.

"In 1991, when former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated and PV Narasimha Rao's government was coming in, there was a great chance for Sharad Pawar to take on the mantle of the Congress presidentship and lead the party, because of the vacuum," said Patel.

However, according to the NCP leader, close aides of Sonia Gandhi, including Captain Satish Sharma, Makhan Lal Fotedar, and others, collaborated to prevent Pawar from assuming leadership within the party or potentially becoming Prime Minister.

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He claims they orchestrated the installment of PV Narasimha Rao, who had previously withdrawn from active politics due to health issues and was in retirement mode.

"They installed PV Narasimha Rao, who had opted out owing to ill health and was in retirement mode. He was made interim Congress President just to ensure that Sharad Pawar cannot take over", claimed Patel.