MANORAMA HORTUS

Pranab Mukherjee contemplated leaving politics: Sharmistha Mukherjee

At one point in his life, Congress stalwart Pranab Mukherjee even contemplated stepping away from politics, his daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee has revealed. Reflecting on her father’s life during a session titled ‘Pranab My Father’ at the Hortus Cultural Festival in Kozhikode, Sharmistha shared that Pranab had instructed his diaries to be given to his daughters, but only after his passing. Those diary notes also unveiled the deep insecurities he had carried throughout his life.

After reading through the entries, Sharmistha noted that certain parts of it had been edited out, including a few remarks about her. “Certain things about me, too, were left out,” she added with a smile.

According to Sharmistha, Pranab Mukherjee despised disruptions in Parliament’s functioning. For him, Parliament was the ‘temple of democracy’, and any interference in its workings hindered the country’s development. Until his death, Pranab believed that everything he achieved in life was due to Indira Gandhi. India had conducted surgical strikes before, though these operations were never disclosed to the public. Is crossing the border something to talk about publicly? However, after the new NDA government took office, such actions began to be made public. Pranab had written in his diary on taking decisive measures during his tenure as Union Minister.
“The Congress is India itself -- such is the diversity within the party,” she observed. Within the Congress, opposing views are regarded as voices from various parts of the country. After Indira Gandhi’s death, rumors began doing rounds that Pranab Mukherjee wanted to become Prime Minister instead of Rajiv Gandhi. However, Sharmistha clarified that no such move was ever made on Pranab's part. In fact, it was Pranab Mukherjee who recommended Rajiv Gandhi for the post of Prime Minister.

While rumours suggested a rivalry between Rajiv and Pranab over the position, Sharmistha clarified that her father had confided that it was actually Congress leader Abu Barqat Ghani Khan Chaudhary who fed the media stories implying internal conflict. She suggested that Pranab’s close relationship with Indira Gandhi, along with the broader political tensions within the party, might have fueled these misunderstandings.