Mon Dec 02 01:23:50 UTC 2024: ## Former Congress Leader Heptulla Recounts Snub by Sonia Gandhi in New Memoir
**New Delhi** – Najma Heptulla, former Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha and Union Minister, details a significant incident in her recently released autobiography, “In Pursuit of Democracy: Beyond Party Lines.” The book recounts Heptulla’s 1999 election as President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), a historic first for an Indian woman. While Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee immediately congratulated her, Heptulla’s attempt to share the news with then-Congress President Sonia Gandhi resulted in a one-hour hold, ultimately without a conversation.
Heptulla writes that despite having secured Gandhi’s prior blessing for her candidacy, her call from Berlin was met with repeated claims that Gandhi was “busy,” leaving Heptulla feeling deeply disappointed and rejected. This incident, she argues, foreshadowed a decline in the Congress party, marked by a growing disconnect between leadership and rank-and-file members due to layers of intermediaries.
Heptulla contrasts Gandhi’s communication style with that of Indira Gandhi, describing the latter as more accessible. She attributes the Congress party’s subsequent struggles to this shift, claiming it hampered feedback and created an unhealthy organizational climate. The book also notes the Vajpayee government’s celebratory response to Heptulla’s achievement, including an upgrade to her ministerial ranking and budgetary allocation for travel. Despite inviting Gandhi to a subsequent international conference, the invitation was declined. Heptulla concludes by asserting that at the time, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi were not active in politics.
First Piper 