Why Sonia Gandhi refused to follow PV Narasimha's advice in the face of a life threat

Congress President Sonia Gandhi was faced with a grave life threat in 1995 that sent alarm bells ringing amongst top Congress leaders, former External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh has said in his autobiography One life is not enough.

In September 1995, Singh says that he was informed of a life threat to Gandhi from the Babbar Khalsa group by the then security head a night before her arrival to Trivandrum for a conference.

The news sent Singh and AK Antony, the then chief minister of Kerala into panic mode and they both rushed to inform the former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao about the issue. Rao already knew about the threat on Gandhi's life. He however hesitated to tell her not to fly out the next day. "Natwar, you tell her from me that for security reasons, she must not travel to Trivandrum," Rao is quoted in the book as saying to Natwar Singh.

When Singh informed Gandhi about the supposed threat to her life and advised her against travelling to Trivandrum, the book says that Gandhi responded saying, "I am arriving in Trivandrum by the morning flight. If I do not do so, I shall never be able to stir out of 10 Janpath.'

Singh says that Narasimha Rao promptly flew in commandos to Trivandrum and turned Raj Bhavan, where Gandhi was staying, into a fortress. The conference venue too got similar security measures.

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