Like father, like daughter. Late President Pranab Mukherjee was known for his temper and also being meticulous. Sharmistha has inherited these qualities.
In her book, ‘Pranab, My Father: A Daughter Remembers’, she gives several instances of her father showing little tolerance for what he called the silly mistakes of the Congress party.
Sharmistha, who left active politics two years ago, spoke exclusively to News18 and explained why she is disillusioned with the Congress. “Ideologically, I believe in Congress. It stands for secularism and liberalism. But now look at it. It’s doing everything that we accuse the BJP of. I have found that the top leadership does not like to be pushed. They don’t tolerate anyone who has a mind of their own. They claim to be liberals but then why do they and their supporters show so much intolerance?” she asked.
In her book, Sharmistha documents the relationship between her father and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling it “amazing” that two people from two different ideologies could hit it off.
“PM Modi would always touch my father’s feet in private. They would discuss politics and had ‘addas’. When he became the prime minister for the first time, my father told him that he would give him advice on the Constitution but he won’t be dragged into any politics.”
It’s a known fact that the Congress was never happy with the proximity between PM Modi and Mukherjee. The BJP has always revelled in this discomfort, accusing the Gandhi family of being against anyone who has a mind of their own or chooses to have a cordial relationship with the BJP.
This perhaps is also one reason why no invites have been sent to Congress leaders for the book release and they are unlikely to turn up.
Pranab Mukherjee would often quote from Rabindranath Tagore to say “there is no point in asking why something didn’t happen. One must learnt to accept and move on”.
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