SONIA GANDHI HEADS NATIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL (NAC): UNCONSTITUTIONAL 'SUPER-CABINET' FORMED
Unelected Council Exercises Extra-Constitutional Veto Over Prime Minister & Cabinet Decisions
On 30 May 2004, the UPA government established the National Advisory Council (NAC), granting Cabinet Minister rank to Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
Operating with zero constitutional or parliamentary accountability, the NAC functioned as a de facto 'Super-Cabinet', drafting major national legislation, vetting key policy files, and systematically undermining the constitutional authority of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
In his memoir, PM Manmohan Singh's media advisor Sanjaya Baru documented how key government files were routinely sent to 10 Janpath for clearance before official Cabinet approvals.
📌 Key Figures & Decision Makers
- ▸ Sonia Gandhi (NAC Chairperson)
- ▸ Manmohan Singh (Prime Minister)
- ▸ Aruna Roy
- ▸ Jean Dreze
"The NAC was an extra-constitutional body that exercised power without accountability, reducing the Prime Minister's Office to an executing agency."
- • Cabinet Secretariat Notification No. 1/NAC/2004 (Cabinet Secretariat, 2004)
- • The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh (Penguin Books, 2014)