CONGRESS LOST FOCUS; SONIA, SINGH BEHIND 2014 DEBACLE: PRANAB BOOK

New Delhi: Pranab Mukherjee, in the final volume of his yet-to-be released memoir, The Presidential Years, noted that the Congress had lost focus after his elevation as the President of India. He also blamed Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh for the 2014 debacle of the party, saying: “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.”

An excerpt of his memoir, scheduled to be released in January 2021, was released by the publishers of the book, Rupa, on Friday.

On the Congress’ disastrous performance in the 2014 elections, Mukherjee wrote, “Some members of the Congress have theorised 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.”

Mukherjee also talked about the style of functioning of the two Prime Ministers with whom he was associated, first as a Cabinet minister and then as the President. “I believe that the moral authority to govern vests with the PM. The overall state of the nation is reflective of the functioning of the PM and his administration. While Dr Singh was preoccupied with saving the coalition, which took a toll on governance, Modi seemed to have employed a rather autocratic style of governance during his first term, as seen by the bitter relationship among the government, the legislature and the judiciary. Only time will tell if there is a better understanding on such matters in the second term of this government,” he noted.

He also revealed a “minor diplomatic” issue that arose during the 2015 visit of US President Barack Obama and the US Secret Service’s insistence that the two Presidents travel in a specially armoured vehicle that had been brought along from the US, and not in the car designated for use by the Indian head of State.

“They wanted me to travel in the same armoured car along with Obama. I politely but firmly refused to do so, and requested the MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) to inform the US authorities that when the US president travels with the Indian president in India, he would have to trust our security arrangements. It cannot be the other way around,” the excerpt read.