'Is it a crime to be ambitious?' Pranab Mukherjee’s daughter hits back at Sonia Gandhi’s memoir claim
PTC Web Desk: Sharmishtha Mukherjee, daughter of the late President Pranab Mukherjee, has strongly objected to Sonia Gandhi’s description of her father’s prime ministerial aspirations in her newly released memoir.
In the book, which was released worldwide on Tuesday, the former Congress president recalls a 2010 episode in which Mukherjee floated the idea of a leadership change. Sonia Gandhi writes that she was stunned when he suggested he could take over from Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister. She read the remark as a sign of an ambition he had long carried.
Sharmishtha questioned the surprise. Asking whether ambition is a crime, she said it was natural for a leader with decades of experience in politics and governance, a sharp mind and a record of hard work to aspire to the country’s top post.
She also recalled that her father had once been asked directly whether he wanted to be Prime Minister. He answered openly that any politician of real standing would have such an ambition.
Stressing his modest beginnings, Sharmishtha said everything Pranab Mukherjee achieved came through merit and effort. Nobody handed him a position, the prime minister’s chair included, on the strength of family legacy, she said. She then took a pointed dig at the Gandhi-Nehru family, asking whether Sonia Gandhi was shocked that someone from outside the family dared to nurture such an ambition and even hint at it to her.
Sharmishtha, who has written a book based on her father’s diaries, said Mukherjee never held the episode against Sonia Gandhi or anyone else. Based on his diary entries and their conversations, she said he was a practical man who understood the reasons and insecurities that any human being can have.
In his book The Coalition Years, Pranab Mukherjee wrote that he had hoped to become Prime Minister in 2004, after Sonia Gandhi declined the post. Manmohan Singh was chosen instead.
He also wrote that he was at first unwilling to serve under Singh, who had earlier worked under him in government. He agreed to join the UPA government after Sonia Gandhi told him he was indispensable.
In 2007, Sonia Gandhi kept Mukherjee in a key government role even though the Left parties had backed him for the presidency. He went on to become the President of India in 2012.
Also Read | Sonia Gandhi’s new book: Pranab Mukherjee hinted at wanting to be PM in 2010
- PTC NEWS
