Pranab Mukherjee’s book: Congress lost its political direction after I Became President

Former President Pranab Mukherjee wrote in his memoirs that the Congress deviated from the political direction after he was elected to the highest constitutional post. Some party members believed that if he had become the Prime Minister in 2004, he would not have suffered a crushing defeat for the Congress in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Mukherjee had written the memoir ‘The Presidential Years’ before his death. This book, published by Rupa Publications, will be available to readers from January 2021.

He died on July 31 at the age of 84 due to health complications after a corona virus infection. In the book, his reference to Congress is coming to the fore when the party is going through internal turmoil.

In this book, Mukherjee writes, some party members believed that if he had become Prime Minister in 2004, the Congress would not have been in a losing position in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. However, I do not agree with this opinion. I maintain that the party leadership lost political direction after I became President. If Sonia Gandhi was unable to handle the affairs of the party, then Manmohan Singh’s long absence from the House put an end to any personal contact with MPs.

The former President wrote, I believe that the moral right to govern is vested with the Prime Minister. The entire governance system of the country is a reflection of the functioning of the Prime Minister and his administration. Dr. Singh was careful to save the coalition which had an impact on governance, while Narendra Modi in his first term seemed to be adopting a totalitarian style of governance which was reflected through tighter relations between the government, legislature and judiciary.

This book sheds light on his long journey from childhood to being president in a village in West Bengal. Rupa Publications announced on Friday that Mukherjee’s memoir ‘The Presidential Years’ will be released globally in January 2021.

Former President Pranab Mukherjee wrote in his memoirs that the Congress deviated from the political direction after he was elected to the highest constitutional post. Some party members believed that if he had become the Prime Minister in 2004, he would not have suffered a crushing defeat for the Congress in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Mukherjee had written the memoir ‘The Presidential Years’ before his death. This book, published by Rupa Publications, will be available to readers from January 2021.

He died on July 31 at the age of 84 due to health complications after a corona virus infection. In the book, his reference to Congress is coming to the fore when the party is going through internal turmoil.

In this book, Mukherjee writes, some party members believed that if he had become Prime Minister in 2004, the Congress would not have been in a losing position in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. However, I do not agree with this opinion. I maintain that the party leadership lost political direction after I became President. If Sonia Gandhi was unable to handle the affairs of the party, then Manmohan Singh’s long absence from the House put an end to any personal contact with MPs. The former President wrote, I believe that the moral right to govern is vested with the Prime Minister. The entire governance system of the country is a reflection of the functioning of the Prime Minister and his administration. Dr. Singh was careful to save the coalition which had an impact on governance, while Narendra Modi in his first term seemed to be adopting a totalitarian style of governance which was reflected through tighter relations between the government, legislature and judiciary.

This book sheds light on his long journey from childhood to being president in a village in West Bengal. Rupa Publications announced on Friday that Mukherjee’s memoir ‘The Presidential Years’ will be released globally in January 2021.