“I was the one to break the news (about tearing of the ordinance) to him. He (Pranab Mukherjee) was so angry,” Sharmishtha Mukherjee said.

Congress review meeting: INC says ‘disappointing, unexpected’ election results

“Anyone would agree that the trashing of the ordinance by Rahul Gandhi was extremely arrogant and politically immature. Principally my father was also against the ordinance, but he said ‘Who is Rahul Gandhi to do that? He was not even part of the Cabinet’, the late president’s daughter added.

In 2013, Rahul Gandhi lashed out at an ordinance passed by his own government that gave convicted lawmakers a three-month reprieve to retain their seats.

‘Manmohan Singh was there…’: Gautam Gambhir on Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Panauti’ remark

The Congress MP had dubbed the ordinance “complete nonsense” and recommended it should be “torn apart” after the UPA government’s cabinet approved the executive order to protect leaders from disqualification.

Further, Sharmishtha Mukherjee revealed that her father would say that his stint with former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was the “golden period” of his political life.

‘Cannot differentiate between the am and pm’, Pranab’s take on Rahul Gandhi

My father would say that the Indira Gandhi period was the golden period of his political life. Indiraji kept an eye on Baba. If there was one person with whom my father’s loyalty lay, it was Indira Gandhi and nobody else,” Sharmishtha said.

Recalling how he rose through the ranks in Indira Gandhi’s cabinet, she said it didn’t happen in a day and underlined that the former prime minister was impressed by her father’s homework.

“The real bonding started post-Emergency. He stood by her through thick and thin. Many stalwarts left her during that time,” she noted while stressing that her father remained loyal to her.

Piyush Goyal takes jibe at Rahul Gandhi with ‘moye moye..,’ says ‘prediction….’

Highlighting that the imposition of Emergency had a historical context, she said that the conditions that led to it should also be looked into since the country was in a state of anarchy at that time.

“She made a mistake and she realised it. If I had the political maturity, a political meeting could have been managed between JP and Indira Gandhi…,” Sharmishtha recalled her father’s assessment of the scenario at that time.

Sharmishtha said that her father would often say that the Congress established parliamentary democracy and the “job of upholding it lies with the party”.

Sharmishtha, who has quit politics, also clarified that she has not tried to tweak her father’s views about anyone.

Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world 🌏 Click here to know more.

Published: 12 Dec 2023, 08:49 AM IST