Natwar Singh: PV Narasimha Rao never made it to Sonia Gandhi's good books

According to former External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh, Sonia Gandhi wasn't too fond of former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao. Singh says that Rao had confided in him that some of Gandhi's advisers were filling her ears against him. "Her attitude towards me is affecting my health," Rao told him, claims Singh in his new book One life is not enough.

In the book, Singh mentions that Gandhi was upset about the Rajiv Gandhi assassination trial going at a slow pace. However Rao tried his best to take the matter forward and had explained to Gandhi the legal hassles. According to Rao, she (Gandhi) had listened and said nothing.

Gandhi's animosity towards Rao apparently continued, to the extent that she struck down every olive branch offered by Rao to her, Singh writes. On one occasion, Rao suggested to Gandhi that he would have a RAX phone installed at 10, Janpath so she could call him whenever she needed, to which she initially agreed. But she later sent a message refusing the offer. 'It was a slap on my face,' Rao is quoted as saying in the book. There was no end to Gandhi's hostility even after Natwar Singh got the Gandhi's family friend Mohammed Yunus to intervene. Singh says it is possible that Yunus' intervention 'irked' Gandhi.

Also Read: 12 things Natwar Singh's book says about Sonia Gandhi