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Soni Mishra
Soni Mishra

BOOK LAUNCH

Pranab had every reason to believe he should have been PM: Manmohan

PTI10_13_2017_000126B Former President Pranab Mukherjee with former prime minister Manmohan Singh, CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI General Secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav and DMK leader Kanimozhi at the release of his book "The Coalition Years" at a function in New Delhi | PTI

It is widely believed that former president Pranab Mukherjee, expected to be chosen as prime minister in 2004, was left surprised when Congress chief Sonia Gandhi opted for the diminutive and somewhat apolitical Manmohan Singh for the top job.

Today, Manmohan sought to lay old ghosts to rest by noting that Mukherjee had every reason to believe that he ought to have been prime minister even as he paid a rich tribute to the political legacy of the veteran leader.

“He had every reason to believe that he should be the prime minister,” Manmohan said at the launch of Mukherjee's book The Coalition Years, the third in the series of his memoirs. Immediately after, in lighter vein, the former prime minister remarked, “He also knew that I had no choice in the matter,” at which the audience, including the Congress chief, party vice president Rahul Gandhi, and Mukherjee himself burst into laughter and clapped.

Manmohan said that he and Pranab formed a cohesive team. “Contrary to what people say or write,  UPA ran smoothly because of the trust and respect that Pranab Mukherjee commanded,” he said, also noting the role played by senior cabinet member Sharad Pawar in the running of the coalition government.

Manmohan said that whenever the cabinet came across a tricky issue, he would turn to the instrument of Group of Ministers, and invariably Mukherjee would head it. “He would come up with a solution that the government was pleased to endorse,” he said.

“Pranab is a politician by choice. And he is one of the greatest politicians living in the country. I became a politician by accident, when the prime minister invited me to become the finance minister,” he said.

Manmohan spoke about the manner in which the dynamic of the work-related association between him and Mukherjee changed, but insisted that there never was any problem in their relationship. He recalled that the two have worked together since the 1970s. “I recall that when he joined the finance ministry as a junior minister... I had the privilege of being a secretary to the ministry.” He spoke about how he and Mukherjee worked together on the union budget at that time.

Later, when Mukherjee became finance minister, Manmohan was the chief of the Reserve Bank of India. “He successfully presided over India returning prematurely a loan to the International Monetary Fund,” he said.

And when Manmohan was appointed the finance minister by then prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, Mukherjee worked under him as deputy chairman of the planning commission.

“In 2004, Soniaji chose me to be PM and Pranabji, one of my most distinguished colleagues, had every reason to believe that he should be PM. He also knew that I had no choice in the matter,” he said. The former premier emphasised that this did not affect their relationship, and it is a long and abiding one.

Mukherjee also had nice words to say about Manmohan. Speaking about his book earlier at the event, the former president said that managing the UPA was not expected to be easy. “Manmohan Singh, with the support of coalition partners, discharged that tremendous responsibility with great credit to them,” he said.

Also present at the function to launch the book were representatives of the parties that were either a part of the UPA or those provided it with outside support. Those present were CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, CPI leader S. Sudhakar Reddy and DMK's M.K. Kanimozhi.

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