Congress stalwart and former President of India Pranab Mukherjee described Rahul Gandhi as “very courteous” and “full of questions” but was “yet to mature politically”. The references, taken from Pranab’s diaries, find mention in his daughter Sharmishtha Mukherjee’s upcoming book titled, ‘In Pranab, My Father: A Daughter Remembers’.
“Pranab described him as ‘very courteous’ and ‘full of questions’, which he took as a sign of Rahul’s desire to learn. But he felt that Rahul was ‘yet to mature politically’. Rahul continued to meet Pranab at Rashtrapati Bhavan, though not very frequently. Pranab advised him to join the Cabinet and gain some first-hand experience in governance. Rahul obviously did not heed the advice, as we all know,” the book says.
It further adds a reference to one of Rahul’s visits to Pranab on March 25, 2013. “He has interest in diverse range of subjects but moves very quickly from one subject to another. I don’t know how much he listened and absorbed,” Pranab wrote in his diaries, according to the book.
The book also addresses the widely-discussed speculation around Pranab being appointed as the Prime Minister of the country following the UPA’s victory in the Lok Sabha elections in 2004. Recalling the former President’s response to her when she asked him about his chances of becoming the Prime Minister, Sharmishtha writes that he responded with an emphatic “No.”
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“No, she will not make me the PM,” was Pranab’s blunt response. In the chapter titled “The PM India Never Had”, Sharmistha refers to Sonia’s decision to withdraw from the prime ministerial race, leading to speculation within the media and political spheres around Pranab’s ascent.
“The names of Dr Manmohan Singh and Pranab were being discussed as the top contenders for the position. I did not have the chance to meet Baba for a couple of days as he was terribly busy, but I spoke to him over the phone. I asked him excitedly if he was going to become the PM. His response was blunt, ‘No, she will not make me the PM. It’ll be Manmohan Singh.’ He added, ‘But she should announce it fast. This uncertainty is not good for the country’.”
No resentment against Sonia Gandhi
Sharmishtha further writes in her book that her father did not harbour any resentment against Sonia Gandhi for not being named the PM. Disappointment, if any, over not being named PM did not reflect in his diaries, Sharmishtha writes, adding that her father had a chance to become PM in 1984 following the assassination of former PM Indira Gandhi as well.
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“If there’s no expectation, there’s no disappointment as well,” he once told a journalist, as per the book, which will be launched on Pranab Mukherjee’s birth anniversary on December 11.
Did Pranab Mukherjee harbour PM ambitions?
“Of course, I would like to be the Prime Minister. Any politician worth his salt has this ambition. But just because I want it does not necessarily mean I am going to get it,” she writes quoting her father’s response to her when she posed the question to him during the UPA-1 era.
“Pranab Mukherjee definitely had the desire to be the PM, but he also came to terms with the fact that he was not going to become one.” Ms Mukherjee says her father’s diary entries from those days contain very sketchy details, perhaps indicating a lack of time owing to a busy and hectic schedule filled with meetings and consultations with various stakeholders.
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From the diaries
On 17 May 2004, he wrote, “Sonia Gandhi decides to withdraw from Prime Ministerial candidature. BJP’s vicious campaign. Myself, Manmohan, Arjun, Ahmed Patel and Ghulam Nabi were called. We are stunned.”
On 18 May, he wrote, “Sonia Gandhi sticks to her decision. Countrywide agitation. Allies are also shocked. CPP meeting emotionally surcharged. Appeal to her to reconsider. Work up to 1 am.”
“On 19 May, almost with a sigh of relief, he wrote, ‘Issues resolved. Manmohan Singh becomes PM-designate. Manmohan and Sonia ji met President and the President was pleased to give mandate to form the government to Manmohan Singh’,” the book says.
Sharmistha Mukherjee mentions that though at that time, her father didn’t write anything more, on December 31, while recounting major events of the year, he wrote, “Most surprising was the amazing sacrifice of Sonia Gandhi by refusing to accept the prime ministership of the country despite pressure from within the party and outside. Her decision saved the country from a bitter confrontation between the BJP and the Congress.”
(With PTI inputs)