Senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s confession in her book that Pranab Mukherjee’s expression of prime ministerial ambitions shocked her has triggered an intense debate on the scope and remit of political ambition. Mukherjee’s daughter Sharmishtha has lashed back at the Congress asking what is wrong with being ambitious specially when that ambition is rooted in merit.While Sonia Gandhi’s memoirs make one point about her shock over Mukherjee suggesting a replacement of then PM Manmohan Singh (obviously with himself) in 2010, it is worthwhile to see what other sources sat in respect of the late Congress veteran’s prime ministerial ambitions.In his book “The Coalition Years: 1996 to 2012″, Mukherjee deals in detail with the period when Sonia Gandhi declined to be prime minister despite being elected leader of the 19-member United Progressive Alliance bloc after the General Election of 2004 in which the BJP-led NDA was defeated.”On 16th May, the UPA and its supporters elected Sonia Gandhi as the Coalition’s prime ministerial candidate. On 18 May she declined the offer,” Mukherjee writes, adding that he heard of the development from Sonia’s political secretary Ahmed Patel after which he himself, Manmohan Singh and Ghuam Nabi Azad rushed to 10 Janpath to convince her to reconsider.Other leaders Shibu Soren, K Chandrashekhar Rao, Natwar Singh, Harkishan Singh Surjeet and Lalu Prasad also tried to dissuade her but she did not relent. Then it was left to her to choose the PM.”There was intense speculation in the party and the media about her choice. Within the Congress the consensus was that the incumbent must be a political leader with experience in party affairs and administration. Finally she named Dr Manmohan Singh as her choice and he accepted. The prevalent expectation was that I would be the next choice for prime minister after Sonia Gandhi declined. This expectation was possibly based on the fact that I had extensive experience in government while Singh’s vast experience was as a civil servant with five years as a reformist finance minister,” Mukherjee writes in his memoirs.He goes on to add that he was reluctant to join the government initially.”I was reluctant to join the government and informed Sonia Gandhi accordingly. She however insisted that I should join the government since I would be vital to its functioning and also be of support to Dr Singh. As it turned out, Dr Singh would talk to me on all important issues and seemed to depend on me. We shared a good working relationship,” late President Mukherjee says in his book.