Timing of Natwar's bombshell on Sonia inappropriate, says Tariq Anwar

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Tariq Anwar today not only questioned the timing, but also termed as inappropriate the startling claims made by former union minister Natwar Singh about Congress president Sonia Gandhi being forced by her son Rahul Gandhi not to accept the post of prime minister in 2004.

"If he indeed had to release the book, then he should have done when the UPA was in power and Dr. Manmohan Singh was the prime minister of the country. Now that the UPA government is gone, I think its not appropriate for him to morally point fingers at someone and level allegations against her (Sonia Gandhi)," Anwar said.

Natwar Singh has reportedly given an explosive interview to Headlines Today on his memoirs "One Life Is Not Enough: An Autobiography" in which he details his public life with some focus on Sonia Gandhi.

Natwar Singh has claimed in the interview that Congress president Sonia Gandhi did not become prime minister in 2004 because her son Rahul Gandhi said he will not allow it since he felt she would be killed like his father, former PM Rajiv Gandhi.

Singh said it was not her "inner voice" that prevented her, as she claimed at the time, to take up the prime minister's post, but Rahul, who said he will take every step possible to prevent his mother from becoming prime minister.