I would like to inherit his political legacy: Pranab's son

President Pranab Mukherjee's politician son Abhijit said Wednesday that he would like to step into his father's shoes as Lok Sabha MP from West Bengal's Jangipur constituency.

"I would like to inherit his political legacy, but it is like the 'go-no go' kind of a situation. It is for my party to decide if I should contest from Jangipur constituency that my father vacates on becoming the president," Abhijit, a legislator in the West Bengal assembly, told IANS soon after his father took oath of office.

"If my party says go and contest from Jangipur, I will. If it does not, then obviously I will not. I am a member of the West Bengal Assembly now and got elected only about a year ago. I have four more years to go as MLA," Abijit said, when IANS caught up with him outside Parliament House after the oath-taking ceremony.

Discussing his father's long innings in politics, he said: "I want everybody to remember him for all the good things he has done in his public life.

"Even if I achieve 30 percent of what he achieved in his political career, it will be great," said Abhijit, 52, an engineer by qualification. He was a Steel Authority employee before joining politics.

Asked about what he thought of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's flip-flop on supporting Pranab Mukherjee in the presidential polls, Abhijit played safe, noting that even though the support came  late, the Trinamool Congress did vote for his father.
"Der se diye, magar vote kiye, na," he added.

"My parents will move into Rashtrapati Bhavan. But I am not sure if my sister Sharmishta will also join them. That has not yet been decided," he pointed out.

Abhijit's aunt and younger sister of Pranab Mukherjee, Krishna Chatterjee told IANS that it was "a very very proud" moment for the entire family over her brother becoming president.

She noted that her brother was 14 years older to her and that this was "a glorious" event which she would cherish  always.

Others from his family present at the swearing-in included his two other sister Saugata Das Mukherjee and Jharna Biswas, apart from his younger son Inderjit, and several others from the extended family, Chatterjee said.