Pranab’s book blames Sonia, Manmohan for 2014 poll debacle

Late President Pranab Mukherjee blamed Congress president Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the party’s dismal  show in 2014 Lok Sabha elections and said some in the grand old organisation believed that the debacle could have been averted had he been the Prime Minister. “The Presidential Years 2012-2017”, based on his memoirs, set to release in January next year, also highlights Congress internal politics. The book also have his impressions of the two prime ministers he worked with – Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi.

"I do believe that the party's leadership lost political focus after my elevation as president. While Sonia Gandhi was unable to handle the affairs of the party, Dr Manmohan Singh's prolonged absence from the House put an end to any personal contact with other MPs,"  Mukherjee writes, according to excerpts from "The Presidential Years" released by publishers Rupa.

Mukherjee also compares the two Prime Ministers he worked with - Manmohan Singh and his successor Narendra Modi."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 writes.

The book reflects on his controversial decisions of imposing president's rule in various states, which were overturned by the Supreme Court, and his role in the shock demonetisation of 2016. The publishers call the book a "deeply personal account" in which Dr Mukherjee describes "the difficult decisions he had to make and the tightrope walk he had to undertake to ensure that both constitutional propriety and his opinion were taken into consideration".

Mukherjee died at 84 on August 31 this year., days after a brain surgery after testing positive for Covid. Often called the "best Prime Minister that India never had", Mukherjee tackled his complicated relationship with the Congress leadership even in his previous books.