New Delhi, November 5
Dismissing the Opposition's charge that she is the back-seat driver of the Manmohan Singh government, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said today that similar insinuations were made about her even when Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister.

"I am not the power behind the throne. I do not wish to be," she declared emphatically while replying to questions at the "Hindustan Times Leadership Initiative Conference." She also made it clear that she does not look at government files or take government decisions.

Responding to a volley of questions after her address, she said these charges were "not something which had happened just now. When Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister, I was supposed to have sacked ministers, brought new ones..."

She began by remarking that she was "ready to bet that none of you expected me last year to take part in this year's conference as part of the establishment" and then went on to deftly handle some difficult and uncomfortable questions from the floor.