Former President late Pranab Mukherjee’s daughter, Sharmistha Mukherjee, has slammed Congress for demanding a separate memorial for former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. She strongly criticised the Congress party for not holding a CWC meeting when her father passed away.
In a post on X, she claimed that when her father (Pranab Mukherjee) had passed away the Congress party didn’t even bother to hold a CWC meeting for condolence. She even accused the Congress leadership at that time for having misled her on this matter. She claimed that a senior ranking Congress leader told her that the provision does not exist for Indian Presidents.
Terming it “utter rubbish,” she said that she later learnt it from her father’s diaries that the provision in fact existed. After former Indian President KR Narayanan passed away, Congress had called a CWC meeting. In fact, Pranab Mukherjee, himself had drafted the condolence message.
When baba passed away, Congress didnt even bother 2 call CWC 4 condolence meeting. A senior leader told me it’s not done 4 Presidents. Thats utter rubbish as I learned later from baba’s diaries that on KR Narayanan’s death, CWC was called & condolence msg was drafted by baba only https://t.co/nbYCF7NsMB
— Sharmistha Mukherjee (@Sharmistha_GK) December 27, 2024
UPA didn’t For P.V Narsimha Rao
Her comment comes in response to a post shared by BJP’s CR Kesavan. In his post on X, Mr. Kesavan, pointed out the utter disregard for statesmen who weren’t part of the “Gandhi family.”
He tweeted, “It is indeed ironic that a Congress President is writing to PM Narendra Modi ji about traditions and the funeral place becoming the sacrosanct venue for a memorial. One should remind Kharge ji how the Congress-led UPA government never built a memorial in Delhi for former PM Narasimha Rao ji, who passed away in 2004. The Congress never built a memorial for him in the 10 years they were in power from 2004-2014. It was only PM Modi ji in 2015 who instituted a memorial for Narasimha Rao ji and honoured him posthumously in 2024 with the Bharat Ratna.”
On this issue, Dr Sanjaya Baru’s book, “The Accidental Prime Minister,” has once again come in spotlight. Dr. Baru was Dr. Singh’s media advisor from 2004-2009 and former editor in chief of the Financial Express.
In his book, Dr. Baru, described how the Congress led UPA, despite being in power from 20024-2014, never built a memorial for former Prime Minister late PV Narasimha Rao. He further claimed that the Congress never wanted Mr. Rao’s cremation to happen in Delhi. Instead of holding it in Delhi, they preferred Mr Rao’s native place in Hyderabad.