Pranab Mukherjee: A man of many misses

A trusted hand of Indira Gandhi, he had a troubled relationship with Rajiv Gandhi while Sonia Gandhi accommodated Pranab Mukherjee for his political acumen and experience.

Pranab Mukherjee rose to occupy the highest seat of power in Indian democracy but his extraordinary political life is also a story of many misses.

Not just the chair of the Prime Minister eluded him in 1984, 1990 and 2004, he could not become the Home Minister in 2004 and 2008, the Congress president in 1996 and the Finance Minister in 1991.

Read: Former President Pranab Mukherjee passes away at 84

Congress’ main trouble-shooter for decades, Mukherjee was feared by rivals within as they felt his ascent to the top positions in party and government could end up in their political oblivion.

A trusted hand of Indira Gandhi, he had a troubled relationship with Rajiv Gandhi while Sonia Gandhi accommodated Mukherjee for his political acumen and experience. However, her choice of Manmohan Singh, whom Mukherjee had appointed as RBI Governor in the 1980s, as Prime Minister in 2004 displayed that she wanted to keep the latter at a distance.

In 2012, however, Mukherjee had an inkling that he may finally become the Prime Minister, following a subtle hint from Sonia during a meeting on 2 June, 2012.

Intense discussions on Presidential elections were on and Sonia told him that he was "eminently suited" for the top post. But she told him that Mukherjee "should not forget the crucial role" he plays in the then UPA government. In 2007 too, Sonia had told him that they could not spare him from the government when the Presidential polls came.

"The meeting ended, and I returned with a vague impression that she might wish to consider (Prime Minister) Manmohan Singh as the UPA presidential nominee. I thought that if she selected Singh for the presidential office, she may choose me as the prime minister," Mukherjee recalled in the third volume of his autobiography 'The Coalition Years: 1996-2012'. However, the culmination of the episode was that he was elected as the President.

However, it was not the same 38 years ago. Retold several times, the political folklore is that a chatter with Rajiv on a flight to Delhi on the day of Indira Gandhi's assassination had sealed his political fate, at least for some years. He is rumoured to have suggested to Rajiv that as the senior-most minister, he should head the interim government.

Within a day, Rajiv took over as Prime Minister. Mukherjee too was in his Cabinet but was ousted soon, prompting him to form his own party, only to return in a couple of years. Mukherjee defended himself in the second volume of his autobiography 'The Turbulent Years: 1980-96' saying that he never aspired for the post and described this as "false and spiteful" stories that created "misgivings" in Rajiv's mind.

Mukherjee’s name also cropped as a potential Prime Minister in 1990 when the VP Singh government fell. It did not come from Congress but the then President R Venkitaraman suggested it to senior Congress leader ML Fotedar, who called on the former.

He wanted Venkitaraman to invite Rajiv to form the government. Instead, Fotedar recalled in 'The Chinar Leaves: A Political Memoir', Venkitaraman told him that if Congress nominated Mukherjee, he would administer the oath that day itself.

"It seems that among the various alternatives, Rajiv Gandhi considered Chandra Shekhar a better and safe option than Pranab Mukherjee," writes former Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh and researcher Ravi Dutt Bajpai in 'Chandra Shekhar: The Last Icon of Ideological Politics'.

In 2004, Mukherjee wrote, there was a “prevalent expectation” that he would be the “next choice for Prime Minister” after Sonia famously declined to take over the top post, saying it was possibly based on the fact that he had extensive experience in the government but Singh, who was eventually chosen, was known for his bureaucratic expertise.

He was "reluctant to join" Singh's cabinet and when there was pressure on him to take over Ministry of Defence, he told Sonia that "I would prefer Home over External Affairs -- I had worked as the chairman of the Standing Committee on Home Affairs for over six years and was conversant with the ministry -- and that I had no experience in Defence".

Another shock for Mukherjee was in 1991 when Rao chose his Finance Minister.

Everyone was sure that Mukherjee is most likely to heading to the Finance Ministry and that he sided with Rao in the power struggle following Rajiv’s assassination. But the mantle fell on Manmohan Singh.

Vinay Sitapati narrates the back story in 'Half Lion: How P V Narasimha Rao Transformed India' on how Rao “spurned” the Congress leaders who wanted the Finance Ministry for themselves.

Mukherjee, who was Finance Minister between 1982-84 that was a period “referred to as the one that saw the origins of crony capitalism in India”, was confident that he would land in the North Block. Within hours of Rao being elected as Congress Parliamentary Party leader on 20 June, 1991, Mukherjee told Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, "you will be either with me in North Block or South Block with Pee Vee (Rao)."

The day before he was to take oath as Prime Minister on 21 June, 1991, Rao called the Intelligence Bureau and within hours, an official handed Rao a "secret file" on Mukherjee.

"There is no evidence of anything incriminating in the file or if Rao even used it against Pranab. But one thing is certain. By that evening (20 June, 1991), Pranab was no longer in the running," Sitapati writes.

Mukherjee also could not make it to the post of Congress president post in 1996 after Rao stepped down as party chief with Sonia preferring Sitaram Kesri.

He also could have become the Home Minister after the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Sonia suggested it but Manmohan Singh put his foot down, saying he could not afford that change. Manmohan Singh himself conveyed this to Mukherjee.

Senior Congress leader Margaret Alva remembers another episode of 1996 when Rao quit as Congress party president. The race for Presidentship started and the main contenders were Mukherjee and Kesri, "still the seasoned and wily Treasurer of the party".

Alva, who attended a "couple of meetings of the Mukherjee camp", felt the undercurrent of support for Kesri was growing, "clearly with the blessings of 10-Janpath (Sonia's residence)" and reported back to Mukherjee.

"The argument put forth was that Kesri was an old Nehru-Gandhi family loyalist and so would be the ideal stop-gap arrangement till such time as Sonia decided to accept the top position," Alva wrote in her memoirs 'Courage and Commitment'.

Alva had "strongly pleaded" Mukherjee's case with Rao, who responded, "I do not want to upset the lady (Sonia)!" It is another story that Kesri was removed as Congress president unceremoniously to bring Sonia as party chief and Mukherjee had a prominent role to play.