Sushma, husband to quit RS if Sonia is made PM Saturday, May 15 2004 20:50 Hrs (IST)
New Delhi:
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today (May 15, 2004) said she and her husband Swaraj Kaushal would resign their Rajya Sabha membership if Congress president Sonia Gandhi became Prime Minister.
"I along with my husband will resign from Rajya Sabha as I cannot see myself addressing Sonia Gandhi as madam Prime Minister. The decision has been taken in deep anguish," she told TV channel 'Aaj Tak'.
"These (Congress) people are saying the mandate is in favour of Sonia Gandhi. It is far from 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," she said.
"Those who are supporting her have got a mandate against her, namely Left parties," Swaraj said, adding the mandate was against her also in West Bengal.
"The mandate for Samajwadi Party (SP) and BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party) in Uttar Pradesh is also against her and to say that it is on the basis of a mandate that the verdict is in their favour is totally wrong," Swaraj said.
She said at least two persons out of 100 crore have refused to recognise Sonia Gandhi as Prime Minister.
"There should be some medium of expressing it and since I am a Member of Parliament and my husband is also an MP, we cannot stand and address her as madam Prime Minister," Swaraj said.