Abhijit Mukherjee, son of former President Pranab Mukherjee, has demanded that Rupa Publications stop the publication of his father’s memoirs ‘The Presidential Years (2012-2017)’. The demand was raised after the announcement of the book by the publishing house revealed that the late Congress stalwart believed that the party had lost focus following his elevation as the president of the country.
Abhijit Mukherjee requested Rupa Publications to “kindly stop the publication of the memoir as well as motivated excerpts which is already floating in certain media platforms without my written consent.” “Since my father is no more, I being his son want to go through the contents of the final copy of the book before it’s publication as I believe , had my father been alive today , he too would have done the same,” he added.
In the fourth volume of his autobiography titled, ‘The Presidential Years (2012-2017)’, former President Pranab Mukherjee has blamed the Congress party for losing its focus, after his elevation to the post of the President. The new book of the former president, who passed away on August 31 this year, is slated to release in January 2021.
Pranab Mukherjee recounted, “Some members of the Congress have theorized that, had I become the PM in 2004, the party might have averted the 2014 Lok Sabha drubbing. Though I don’t subscribe to this view, I do believe that the party’s leadership lost political focus after my elevation as President.”
While blaming top brass of Congress leaders for the debacle, Mukherjee added, “While Sonia Gandhi was unable to handle the affairs of the party, Dr Singh’s prolonged absence from the House put an end to any personal contact with other MPs.” It is pertinent to mention that Congress tally in the 2014 elections had reduced to a dismal 44.
While cautioning the current political dispensation, he highlighted, “Only time will tell if there is a better understanding of such matters in the second term of this government..” He had authored 3 other memoirs titled, ‘The Dramatic Years: The Indira Gandhi Years’, ‘The Turbulent Years: 1980-1996’ and ‘The Coalition Years: 1996-2012.’
