Pranab Mukherjee doubts Rahul Gandhi’s ability to lead Congress, says Sharmishtha Mukherjee in new book
Sharmishtha Mukherjee reveals her father’s views on the Gandhi family and doubts about Rahul Gandhi’s leadership qualities in the new book.
New Delhi: Sharmishtha Mukherjee in her new book In Pranab, my father: a daughter remembers revealed that Pranab Mukherjee doubted Rahul Gandhi’s ability to lead the Congress and was disappointed by his ‘frequent acts of disappearance’. In her new book, Sharmishtha shares her father’s critical comments on Rahul Gandhi and his views on his relationship with the Gandhi family.
“One morning, during Pranab’s usual morning walk in the Mughal Gardens (now Amrit Udyan), Rahul came to see him. Pranab did not like interruptions during his morning walks and puja. Still, he decided to meet him. It turned out that Rahul was actually supposed to meet Pranab later in the evening, but his (Rahul’s) office incorrectly informed him that the meeting was in the morning. I heard about the incident through one of the ADCs. When I asked my father, he replied sardonically, “If Rahul’s office can’t distinguish between ‘am’ and ‘p.m’, how can they ever hope to run the PMO?”
She further wrote that Pranab Mukherjee had seen Rahul Gandhi as a politician who is ‘yet to grow up’.
Sharmishtha Mukherjee reveals her father’s views on the Gandhi family and doubts about Rahul Gandhi’s leadership qualities in the new book.
Sharmishtha tod ANI said Pranab Mukherjee once described Rahul Gandhi as “very courteous” and “full of questions” but that he still needed to “mature politically”.
She writes that her father doubted Rahul Gandhi’s ability to tell the difference between ‘AM’ and ‘PM’.
The book referred to one of Pranab Mukherjee’s diary entries in which he explained how he advised the Wayanad MP to join the Cabinet to gain first-hand experience of governance.
“He has not written much about Rahul Gandhi. During one of these visits on March 25, 2013, Pranab noted, ‘Rahul Gandhi is very courteous and interested in a wide range of topics, but moves from one topic to another very quickly. I don’t know how much he listened and absorbed, he (Rahul Gandhi) is yet to mature politically,” she said.
The author further also mentioned an incident where he doubted Rahul Gandhi’s ability to lead the Congress and hold the post of Prime Minister.
She also shared several memories of her father and revealed the former president’s interest in becoming prime minister.
She said Pranab Mukherjee wanted to become Prime Minister of India, but Congress leader Sonia Gandhi “guaranteed” the interests of her own family and paved the way for Manmohan Singh to take up the post in 2004.
“Yes, he wanted to be Prime Minister, but he knew he couldn’t be Prime Minister, so he wasn’t disillusioned that one day he would become Prime Minister… I once asked him if he wanted to be Prime Minister and he said yes, every serious politician would like to become one, but that doesn’t mean I would become Prime Minister…,” she said.
Sharmishtha further said that Congress leader Sonia Gandhi had assumed that Pranab Mukherjee, as he always believed, could have challenged her authority.
“He said that Sonia Gandhi might have assumed that he would challenge Sonia Gandhi’s authority… he said the question was not whether I would have challenged it or not, but she felt that… Sonia Gandhi had her own interests and her family secured appointing someone as prime minister who they believed would not question her authority,” she said.