Plot

Explores Manmohan Singh's tenure as the Prime Minister of India and the kind of control he had over the cabinet and the country.

Based on the memoir by Indian policy analyst Sanjaya Baru, The Accidental Prime Minister explores Manmohan Singh's tenure as the Prime Minister of India, and the interference of Congress Party in contradicting his decisions during his first tenure. He details how Singh fell a victim to Congress Party's dynastic approach. It highlights how Manmohan Singh was constantly ignored by Congress to maintain turf for Rahul Gandhi, the son of Sonia Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.—guptashaurya-54306

Based on the memoir by Indian policy analyst Sanjaya Baru (Akshaye Khanna), The Accidental Prime Minister explores Manmohan Singh's (Anupam Kher) tenure as the Prime Minister of India from 2004 to 2014, and the kind of control he had over his cabinet and the country.

Congress won the 2004 election under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi (Suzanne Bernert). But the BJP is not OK with India having a foreign national as a Prime Minister. Rahul (Arjun Mathur) is against having Sonia as PM as he is afraid of assassination attempts. Priyanka (Aahana Kumra) is neutral. Sonia decides to step down from the nomination of PM and suggests Manmohan Singh instead. Pranab Mukherjee (Pradeep Chakravarti) is not happy as he thought he was in line for the honor. Lal Krishna Advani (Avtar Sahni) admits that this was a masterstroke.

From the beginning there is tension as Manmohan wants to handle Finance ministry, but Chidambram (Shiv Kumar Subramaniam) wants the post for himself. Sonia intervenes from the beginning and gives Finance to Chidambram. Ahmed Patel (Vipin Sharma) is Sonia's chief secy and believes that Sonia won the election and she selected Manmohan. Kapil Sibal (Munish Bhardwaj) is the law minister and warns about constitutional precedence. Ahmed and Pranab decide to set up a National Advisory Committee, who will decide policy and issue instructions to the Govt. They install Gandhi loyalist Pulok Chatterji (Bobby Parvez) as Manmohan's chief bureaucrat in PMO.

To counter this and to bring his message directly to the nation, Manmohan requests Sanjay Baru to become his press secy. JN " Mani" Dixit (Atul Kumar) (National security advisor), T. K. A. Nair (Anish Kuruvilla) (Principal Secy) and MK Narayanan (Prakash Belawadi) (IB Chief) didn't like Sanjay's proximity to the PM. Sanjay also advised PM on who was leaking stories to the media like Jairam Ramesh who was on the NAC.

Meanwhile left supporters like Sitaram Yechury (Anil Zankar) were not happy since PM wanted private company CEO's on the planning commission. LK Advani is angry when he thinks he was not accorded proper respect as per protocol, when he met the PM. He also rebuffs Naveen Patnaik (Hansal Mehta) CM Orissa, when he comes asking for a special package for Bihar. Manmohan starts working on his signature legacy, the nuclear deal with the US.

PV Narasimha Rao (Ajit Satbhai) dies & Sonia wants to bury him in Hyderabad, instead of in Rajghat. Meanwhile Ahmed Patel warns PM to abandon the nuclear deal, since Left will withdraw support if that happens. At this moment Atal Bihari Vajpayee (Ram Avtar) and the BJP support Manmohan as they firmly believe that the deal is in interest of the nation. Manmohan dares left to leave the government. Sonia again intervenes and asks Manmohan to reconsider. Manmohan resigns & sticks to his demand that Sonia cannot compromise with the left parties and embarrass the govt on world stage. Left withdraws support.

But Amar Singh (Manoj Tiger), leader of SP, is in US & speaks to APJ Abdul Kalam (Sunil Kothari) about the deal and its importance to the nation. APJ certifies the deal and Amar Singh decides to support the UPA Govt. In 2009, Sonia's relations with Manmohan deteriorates, and Sanjay resigns to take the blame. He comes back when Manmohan has a heart attack. He advises Manmohan to fight elections directly, since he believes COngress is playing it safe. If it wins, its because of Rahul, if it loses then its because of Manmohan. Manmohan campaigns and helps Congress win 206 seats. But the party credits Rahul. Manmohan wanted to tackle the Kashmir problem in his 2nd term, but was unsure of when he would be unseated by Rahul on the PM seat.

Manmohan meets Pakistan Prime Minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani (Adarsh Gautam) in Egypt and agrees to go soft on Balochistan. Sonia is angered by this and uses this as an excuse to push Manmohan out of PMO. Manmohan elevates Sanjay to Principal Secy, but the news is leaked to press and Ahmed nixes the appointment. Then the scams start coming out in the news. Now Sonia changes tacks and wants Manmohan to continue as the environment is not conducive to a change. Manmohan wants to resign, but is rebuffed. In 2013, he brings an ordinance to criminalize corruption, which even Rahul tears apart in a live press conference. Sanjay advises Manmohan to resign.... As a compromise Manmohan announces his desire not to be appointed as PM for a 3rd term, if UPA comes back to power.

Sanjay writes a book on Manmohan which is released during the elections. The PMO denies the authenticity of the book and it ends up being a best seller. But Sanjay loses Manmohan as a friend, since he squarely put all the blame on the Gandhi family.