Did Pranab Mukherjee aspire to be PM? Sonia Gandhi recalls 2010 ‘hint’ in Memoir

Congress leader Sonia Gandhi has recalled how former President Pranab Mukherjee once suggested in 2010 that it might be time for a “change at the top”, a remark she interpreted as an indirect expression of his long-held ambition to become Prime Minister.

In her recently published memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, Gandhi describes Mukherjee as an experienced and knowledgeable political colleague who believed his seniority and years in government made him a natural choice for the country's top executive post.

“Over the years he held virtually all the important portfolios in previous Congress governments, but deep down he felt his seniority and experience made him a natural candidate for the prime ministership,” she wrote.

Gandhi said Mukherjee had left the Congress in 1984 after Rajiv Gandhi was chosen as Prime Minister, feeling that he had been overlooked. He formed his own party before returning to the Congress in 1989, but his ambition to become Prime Minister, she said, remained.

“He, too, had left the party in 1984 and formed his own after Rajiv was chosen as prime minister, feeling he'd been sidestepped. He returned in 1989, but that aspiration he never lost,” she added.

The 2010 conversation

Gandhi's memoir also sheds light on the working relationship between the Congress leadership and the government led by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

She described an “unspoken division of responsibility”, under which Singh headed the government while she focused on managing the party. The arrangement, she said, helped maintain coordination between the Congress organisation and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

A core group of senior Congress leaders met Singh every week to coordinate the functioning of the party and the government. Its members included Mukherjee, Arjun Singh, A.K. Antony and Ahmed Patel.

“A core group met weekly with the Prime Minister to ensure coordination between the two. Its other members were Pranab Mukherjee, who had been a Minister in Indira Gandhi's cabinet in the 70s; the politically insightful Arjun Singh, a former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh; A.K. Anthony, a former Chief Minister of Kerala; and Ahmed Patel,” Gandhi wrote.

The leaders also attended meetings of the Strategy Group, which discussed important issues scheduled to be taken up in Parliament. Gandhi recalled that Mukherjee, whom she addressed as Pranab ji, would sometimes stay back for informal conversations after these meetings.

She said Mukherjee had developed “serious differences” with the then Finance Minister P. Chidambaram. During one such conversation in 2010, after expressing his frustration, Mukherjee made a suggestion that took her by surprise.

“He (Pranab) had developed serious differences with the Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, and on one occasion, in 2010, I think after expressing his frustration, he shocked me with the suggestion that perhaps it was time for a change at the top, which I understood as a hint of his long-held desire to become prime minister,” Gandhi wrote.

She said she chose not to respond directly and gently changed the subject. Although Mukherjee may have been disappointed, he did not allow the exchange to affect their relationship.

“I gently changed the subject, and though he may have been disappointed, he never made me feel he held it against me,” she added.

From Congress leader to President

Gandhi also recalled Mukherjee's vast knowledge of the Congress and world affairs, describing him as a politician with an “encyclopaedic mind”. However, she noted that he could sometimes lose his temper.

“Pranab Mukherjee was celebrated for his encyclopaedic mind. Any question on the Congress Party's long history would find in him a ready answer, and he was equally scholarly on world history, world affairs, and philosophical questions, but at times short-tempered to the point of becoming almost purple in the face,” she wrote.

The Congress eventually nominated Mukherjee as its candidate for President in 2012. He won the election and became the country's 13th President. Gandhi said she continued to visit him after his elevation to the constitutional post, often simply to talk.

“I often called on him, mostly just to converse with the erudite and knowledgeable politician that he always remained,” she wrote.

Gandhi's criticism of BJP and institutions

Beyond her recollections of Mukherjee, Gandhi's memoir also criticises the BJP's political and ideological approach. She accused the ruling party of “systematically dismantling” India's democratic institutions, suppressing dissent and concentrating political and economic power.

She also alleged that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) had “brought most educational institutions under its ideological control”. The memoir touches upon the functioning of constitutional institutions, the media, central investigative agencies and electoral processes, as well as welfare schemes and the treatment of religious and political minorities.

(With agencies' inputs)