Pranab’s book blames Sonia, Manmohan for ’14 poll debacle

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 11

Late President Pranab Mukherjee blamed Congress president Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the party’s dismal 2014 showing and said some in the grand old organisation believed that the debacle could have been averted had he been the Prime Minister. “The Presidential Years 2012-2017”, set for January 2021 release, also features the late President’s impressions of the two prime ministers he worked with – Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi.

Memoir set for release in Jan

“The Presidential Years 2012-2017”, set for January 2021 release, also features the late President’s impressions of the two prime ministers he worked with — Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi.

Mukheerjee says in his memoirs, “The overall state of the nation is reflective of the functioning of the PM and his administration. While Dr Singh was preoccupied with saving the coalition, which took a toll on governance, Modi seemed to have employed a rather autocratic style of governance during his ­first term, as seen by the bitter relationship among the government, the legislature and the judiciary. Only time will tell if there is a better understanding on such matters in the second term of this government.” On 2014 electoral rout, Mukherjee makes a candid admission, “Some members of the party have theorised that had I become the PM in 2004, the party might have averted the drubbing. Though I don’t subscribe to this view, I do believe that the party’s leadership lost political focus after my elevation as President.”