NEW DELHI, 20 May 2004 — President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s office emphatically denied yesterday that he had discussed with Congress party President Sonia Gandhi her foreign origin, leading her to reject the post of prime minister.
The president’s office said in a statement: “It has been reported in a section of the press that the president had discussed the citizenship issue with Sonia when she met him (Tuesday) at Rashtrapati Bhavan (the presidential palace).
“This is contrary to facts. It did not figure in the discussions at all,” the statement said.
A source in Rashtrapati Bhavan had earlier told IANS: “These reports have no basis. They are kite-flying.”
Reports in some newspapers had said that Kalam told Sonia that he had sought the advice of the Supreme Court on her eligibility to become prime minister because of her Italian origin. Two press statements issued by the president’s office Tuesday represented what happened at the meeting between the president and Sonia and the president and some of Sonia’s detractors, the source said.
The first statement said: “Sonia Gandhi accompanied by Manmohan Singh of the Indian National Congress called on the president today at 12.15 p.m.
“Sonia Gandhi had discussions with the president. She told the president that she would meet him again tomorrow along with letters of support from other political parties for a Congress-led government.”
The source said Sonia never staked claim to forming a government and she never carried the letters of support given her by the allies of the Congress and the Left parties.
“So, there was no reason at all for the president to raise any issues as suggested by the newspaper reports,” the source said.
