Pranab Mukherjee, a towering Personality: A daughter remembers

The following are extracts from Sharmistha Mukherjee’s book on her father, the late Pranab Mukherjee. The extracts highlight the late President of India’s interactions with Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi.

One of the early references in his (Pranab Mukherjee’s) diaries about Rahul was on 29 January 2009, in the context of a CWC meeting that had discussions on strategies for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as one of the agendas. Pranab wrote, ‘Rahul Gandhi spoke vehemently against coalition. I told him [that] he should elaborate his ideas and it should be logically put. He said that he’ll discuss with me.’

After that, there are few references in his diaries of Rahul visiting him at his residence. Pranab described him as ‘very courteous’ and ‘full of questions’, which he took as a sign of Rahul’s desire to learn. But he felt that Rahul was ‘yet to mature politically’. Rahul continued to meet Pranab at Rashtrapati Bhavan, though not very frequently. Pranab advised him to join the Cabinet and gain some first-hand experience in governance. Rahul obviously did not heed the advice, as we all know. During one of these visits on 25 March 2013, Pranab noted, ‘He has interest in diverse range of subjects but moves very quickly from one subject to another. I don’t know how much he listened and absorbed.’ On 15 July 2013, Rahul came for lunch. As per Pranab’s diary, Rahul spelt out in detail his plans for revamping the organization. Though Pranab did not write anything about those plans, he was appreciative and noted that Rahul ‘appeared confident of meeting the challenges’. But had Pranab known what Rahul was about to do two months later (perhaps, Rahul himself didn’t know it then), he would have very strongly advised Rahul against it.

On 27 September 2013, Rahul Gandhi walked into a press conference held by former Cabinet minister and the party’s Communication Department Chief Ajay Maken and vehemently trashed a proposed government ordinance calling it complete nonsense, adding that it should be torn up…
Pranab himself was against the ordinance. A day before Rahul’s public outburst, he had summoned the then Home Minister, Law Minister and Parliamentary Affairs Minister. During the meeting, he questioned the urgency behind the promulgation of the ordinance. Going by his diaries, I learnt that he had informally advised some of his former colleagues in the party to not take the ordinance route. He felt that bypassing Parliament on such an important issue was not correct. He also felt that amid growing public anger towards criminalization of politics, bringing such an ordinance without wider political consensus would not be politically wise and would have negative consequences for the Congress and the government. So, in principle, he agreed with Rahul. But he was aghast at the manner in which Rahul acted. I was the one who first broke the news to him. After a long time, I saw my father getting so angry! His face became red and he shouted, ‘Who does he [Rahul] think he is? He is not a member of the Cabinet. Who is he to publicly trash a decision of Cabinet? The Prime Minister is abroad. Does he even realize the implication of his actions and the effect it will have on Prime Minister and the government? What right does he have to humiliate the PM like this?’

That night, he wrote in his diary, ‘Rahul Gandhi gate-crashed a press conference by Ajay Maken and described the decision of Cabinet as “nonsense”. This is totally uncalled for. He has all the arrogance of his Gandhi–Nehru lineage without their political acumen.’ He continued to write that his office got a call from Kapil Sibal, and he himself got a call from Ahmed Patel requesting him not to take any action on the ordinance. He also wondered how Rahul’s actions would impact the coalition partners.

Much later, after I had joined politics, during a discussion with my father about the reasons behind the Congress party’s poor performance in the 2014 elections, he told me that, among other reasons, Rahul’s outburst was the final nail in the coffin for the Congress. ‘The party’s vice-president had shown such disdain for his own government publicly. Why should people vote for you again?’ he asked. Later, a senior Congress leader told me that Rahul had tried his best within the party to not promulgate the ordinance, but no one had listened. When I reported this to my father, he sharply remarked that despite his many years in politics and his influential position within the party, if Rahul couldn’t persuade his colleagues without resorting to theatrics, then maybe politics wasn’t his calling. I think his faith in Rahul was shaken after this incident. Finally, when the results were declared on 16 May 2014, the Congress had fallen to an all-time low with just 44 seats, while the BJP on its own got an absolute majority winning 282 seats…
Rahul visited Pranab after this disastrous defeat. Pranab found it surprising that ‘he [Rahul] gave his views on the election performance of the party in a most detached way, from a distance as an outsider as if he was not the face of the campaign and the main campaigner of the party’. Pranab further wrote, ‘Perhaps his distance from the party and a lack of killer instinct could be reasons for his failure to enthuse the party workers to fight the election which BJP got from Narendra Modi.’

The reports he got from his former colleagues in the Congress were not very encouraging. He noted that some leaders ‘poured venom’ against Rahul and many senior leaders complained that Rahul was not meeting them. Pranab felt that some of the comments made by Rahul reflected his political immaturity. He was also disappointed by Rahul’s frequent disappearing acts. Pranab believed that serious politics is a 24×7, 365-day job. He personally did not believe in taking time off, and diligently attended all official and party events. He felt that Rahul’s frequent breaks, particularly during a crucial period for the party, were causing him to lose the perception battle. Rahul was conspicuously absent during the flag-raising ceremony at the AICC on the party’s 130th Foundation Day on 28 December 2014, barely six months after the party’s devastating loss in the general elections. Pranab noted in his diary, ‘Rahul was not present at the AICC function. I don’t know the reason but many such incidents happened. As he got everything so easily, he does not value it. Soniaji is bent upon making her son the successor but the young man’s lack of charisma and political understanding is creating a problem. Can he revive Congress? Can he inspire people? I do not know.’

Pranab was also critical of the coterie around Rahul, possibly based on feedback received from senior party leaders. He advised Rahul to include both new and old leaders in his team. In this context, there was once a funny incident. One morning, during Pranab’s usual morning walk in the Mughal Gardens (now Amrit Udyan), Rahul came to see him. Pranab disliked any interruptions during his morning walks and puja. Nevertheless, he decided to meet him. It turned out that Rahul was actually scheduled to meet Pranab later in the evening, but his [Rahul’s] office mistakenly informed him that the meeting was in the morning. I came to know about the incident from one of the ADCs. When I asked my father, he commented sardonically, ‘If Rahul’s office can’t differentiate between “a.m.” and “p.m.”, how do they hope to run the PMO one day?’

THE PM AND THE PRESIDENT: A SUCCESSFUL DYNAMIC
I always wondered about Pranab’s relationship with PM Modi. Despite belonging to two very different political ideologies, and with both being strong personalities, they seemed to get along famously. One of the reasons was perhaps Pranab’s interpretation of the role of President and the institutional relationship between the president and the executive. I got further insight on this after reading his diaries.

On 18 August 2012, CM Modi extended an invitation to Pranab, requesting his presence at the Vibrant Gujarat Summit to be held in January 2013. Pranab pointed out to him about the upcoming elections in Gujarat and the possibility of a change in government. Modi was quite confident of victory. Regarding this meeting, one of the ADCs—who was waiting outside the president’s office to escort the CM to his car—told me an interesting anecdote. Supposedly Modi emerged from Pranab’s office muttering to himself, ‘Kya bhavya vaktitwa hai (What a towering personality).’

Much later, I came to learn more about the meeting directly from the PM. By his own admission, PM Modi was a little nervous when he went to meet Pranab. The latter put Modi at ease and told him candidly, ‘We belong to two different political ideologies. People have given you the mandate to rule. Governance is the domain of the Cabinet headed by the prime minister. That’s your job. I will not interfere. If you need any advice on constitutional matters, I will definitely help you.’ Modi told me, ‘It was a very big thing for Dada to say.’ From the conversation, it seems that there was an openness and honesty in their interaction from the very beginning.
Pranab then asked Modi about his analysis of the election. Modi responded that after three decades, a political party had achieved an absolute majority. Pranab then asked him, ‘What else?’ When Modi didn’t answer, Pranab told him that the 2014 election was unique in the history of Lok Sabha elections, as it featured a declared new face as the prime ministerial candidate. Pranab emphasized that people had not only voted for Modi’s party, but also for him as the PM. While narrating this incident to me, Modi explained that the 2019 election was different, as it was assumed that he would continue as the PM.
Baba mentioned to me multiple times that, in his opinion, Narendra Modi is the only PM after Indira Gandhi, who has the ability to feel the pulse of the people so acutely and accurately. On 23 October 2014, he noted in his diary, ‘PM’s decision to spend Diwali with jawans at Siachen and flood affected people at Srinagar speaks of his political sense which was not visible in any other PM except Indira Gandhi.’

Even after Pranab retired from presidency, I had a few one-on-one meetings with the PM. He always made time for me. During all of my meetings with him, particularly when I was involved in politics, I would raise a plethora of issues including attitude towards minorities, Women’s Reservation Bill, criminalization of Triple Talaq and many others. He always gave politically-correct answers, which was expected considering he is perhaps one of the most astute politicians in India today. Although I didn’t necessarily agree with everything he said, I refrained from engaging in heated arguments with him because I understood that he didn’t grant me an audience due to my status as a prominent politician or journalist, but simply because I am my father’s daughter. I had to maintain a level of decorum while politely expressing my disagreements. But what I found most remarkable was that he was never evasive, and never became dismissive or angry with me for asking these questions and voicing my opinion. When I reported these meetings to my father, he would often humorously comment on the PM seemingly having ‘infinite patience’.

After Pranab demitted office as president, PM Modi visited him a few times. At Rashtrapati Bhavan, I never had the opportunity to observe Pranab and the PM together, except during official banquets. Now, I could see their interaction from close quarters. Although I wouldn’t be present while they conversed, I would enter the room intermittently to offer tea and snacks. Undoubtedly, there existed a strong personal chemistry between the two leaders. The relaxed body language and the sound of laughter conveyed the same.
After each visit, I would ask my father about the nature of their discussions. Each time, his response was the same—‘a political adda’. This was confirmed by his diaries. Unlike their meetings at Rashtrapati Bhavan, where the PM would brief the President on specific issues, these interactions appeared to be more like informal conversations in typical adda style. It goes without saying that their topics of discussion revolved around politics.

Excerpted from “Pranab My Father” by Sharmistha Mukherjee with permission from Rupa Publications.