On Sunday (October 3), former Parliamentarian Abhijit Mukherjee had narrated how his father Pranab Mukherjee was humiliated by the Congress party after his demise in August last year.
Abhijit Mukherjee, who had defected to the Trinamool Congress from the Congress in July, made the remarks during an interview with Rohan Dua of ‘The New Indian’ channel. At about 3 minutes into the conversation, he recounted the ill-treatment meted out to his father by the grand-old party. “After my father’s demise, 2-3 other stalwart leaders also died. There was an obituary reference during a meeting of the Congress Working Committee but no (specific) reference of my father,” he lamented.
“The person (Pranab Mukherjee) almost gave 50 years to that party. It was the bare minimum that was expected. This is one of the reasons why the people of Bengal feel that the Congress party did not treat someone properly,” Abhijit Mukherjee concluded. He also talked about the ‘feeling of unease’ within the party and what prompted him to call it quits.
Son of Pranab Mukherjee explains why he quit Congress
Abhijit Mukherjee remarked, “Out of 4 elections in last 7.5 years, I have consecutively won 3 elections. And I have lost the last election badly. After that, I remained only a member of the party. There were no more activities for me as I was not being included anywhere…” He further explained how Congress gave him a cold shoulder and almost deserted him. “Although the All India Congress Committee (AICC) had appointed me as one of the main persons to handle the Bengal elections, I was not called in any meeting. I had made several requests,” he added
At about 4 minutes and 40 seconds into the conversation, Abhijit Mukherjee had emphasised, “The exit from Congress is my own decision. I am not naming that man but one particular person humiliated me.” On being pressed whether the person was Congress scion Rahul Gandhi, Abhijit Mukherjee refused to name ‘names.’ When he was asked about the reconciliation process with the Gandhis, he lamented, “There was no call from them. I came here and at least wanted an audience. But somehow due to Covid-19 and many other reasons, I did not get any appointment.”
Abhijit Mukherjee defends his father’s visit to RSS headquarters, being conferred the Bharat Ratna
The son of erstwhile President, Abhijit Mukherjee, had made his debut in Indian politics in 2011 and went on to win the 2012 by-polls and 2014 LokSabha election. He defended the decision of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to award Pranab Mukherjee with the highest civilian award aka the Bharat Ratna. “A worthy person got a worthy award,” he told Rohan Dua at 10:57 minutes into the conversation.
On being asked about his father’s visit to the RSS headquarters, Abhijit Mukherjee pointed out, “RSS or Nagpur is not out of India. These people are not non-Indian. So, his visit did not matter. What mattered was his speech at the RSS headquarters. Did he speak anything against India or society? Rather he spoke about tolerance that people must be tolerant.”
