NEW DELHI — Sonia Gandhi said she would "humbly decline" to be the next prime minister of India, a decision that followed Hindu nationalist outrage over the prospect of a foreign-born woman at the helm of the nation.
Gandhi, an Italian native who became an Indian citizen 21 years ago, did not say whom she would nominate for the post; but the favorite appeared to be Manmohan Singh, the architect of India's economic liberalization program during the last Congress party-led government from 1991 to 1996. Gandhi will remain president of the party.
"The post of prime minister has not been my aim," Gandhi said over the shouts of a crowd urging her to take the job. "I was always certain that if ever I found myself in the position I am in today I would follow my inner voice. I humbly decline the post."
Gandhi's Congress party and allies trounced the Hindu-nationalist party of caretaker Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his Democratic National Alliance in national elections that ended last week.
Her party passed a resolution Tuesday night calling on her to reconsider, but she declined a second time.
"I have listened to your views, your pain, your anguish at the decision I have taken," Gandhi said. "I (am) aware I am causing anguish to you also, but I think you should trust me, allow me to take my decision."
She would have been the fourth member of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty to be prime minister.
Her announcement in the massive, colonial-era building was attended by 145 newly elected lamwakers from her Congress party and her children Rahul and Priyanka.
"It is my inner voice, my conscience," she said. "My responsibility at this critical time is to provide India with a secular government that is strong and stable."
After the announcement, a string of Congress lawmakers lined up to make speeches, pleading with Gandhi to reconsider.
Renuka Choudhury, who was close to tears, told Gandhi it was the party's desire "that you continue to lead us, because it is the need of the hour, not just for women, not just for children, but as a human being who has upheld the finest tradition of what it means to be an Indian."
Members of the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party of outgoing Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had demonstrated against the possibility of a foreign-born prime minister. They had pledged to boycott Gandhi's swearing-in ceremony if she were named leader.
Earlier Tuesday, Gandhi met with President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam but did not, as widely expected, leave with his approval to form a minority government. Such a coalition would be dependent on the outside support of two communist parties — a prospect that spooked investors.
Jyoti Basu, a senior leader of the Communist Party of India-Marxist and a Congress party ally, said Gandhi's children did not want her to take the post. "Rahul and Priyanka said, 'We have lost our father, we don't want to lose our mother as well," he said.
Gandhi's husband and mother-in-law were past prime ministers who were both assassinated. Rajiv Gandhi was killed by a suicide bomber in 1991 and Indira Gandhi was shot to death by her own bodyguards in 1984.
"This is a woman whose husband was killed by terrorists, a woman whose mother-in-law died of gunshot wounds. Of course, there are security concerns," said Jayanti Natarajan, senior Congress party leader.
Gandhi's foreign origins have provoked incendiary comments from her political opponents.
"A foreigner becoming the prime minister of the country will put national security and the country's self-respect in jeopardy," Uma Bharti, a former sports minister in outgoing Vajpayee's government, was quoted as saying by Press Trust of India news agency.
Singh is Gandhi's choice to head the incoming government, Indian television stations reported, citing unidentified officials in the Congress party. Many believe he would be able to strike a balance between leftists and demands by businesses.
Outside Gandhi's house, about 1,000 supporters and lawmakers held a rally before her announcement Tuesday, beating drums and waving flags and posters.
One Congress party worker jumped on top of a car and pointed a gun to his head for several minutes, waving a stick at people trying to get him down. He was later pulled down and disarmed.
Investors feared that if she became prime minister, Gandhi would have to backtrack on her pledge to go forward with economic liberalization, or that the leftists could block key reforms such as the privatization of state-run companies.
That sent markets plummeting on Monday, when the Bombay Stock Exchange, the Sensex, had its biggest drop in its 129-year history.
The benchmark index rose again Tuesday on news that Singh could be the new Congress party candidate for prime minister.
The Congress party and its allies did not win an outright majority in Parliament in the six-week elections. Communist parties — with 62 seats in the 545-member parliament — said they would support her bid to become prime minister but not join her government.
Gandhi needs the leftist parties because even with the announced backing Monday of the socialist Samajwadi Party, the Congress would have only 257 seats, short of the 272 it needs for a majority in the lower house of Parliament, the Lok Sabha.