Sharmistha Mukherjee, daughter of Pranab Mukherjee and national spokesperson of the All India Congress Committee, has come out all guns blazing against her brother Abhijit Mukherjee. Her comments came after the former president’s son demanded that Rupa Publications stop the publication of their father’s memoir.
She requested her brother “not to create any unnecessary hurdles in publication of the last book written by our father.” “The final draft contains my dads’ hand written notes and comments that have been strictly adhered to. The views expressed by him are his own and no one should try to stop it from being published for any cheap publicity. That would be the greatest disservice to our departed father,” Sharmistha Mukherjee said.
Abhijit Mukherjee had earlier 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.”
It appears that Abhijit Mukherjee wants to spare the Congress party the blushes but Sharmistha Mukherjee remains intent on staying true to her father’s wishes.
