Pranab Mukherjee's daughter seeks answers from Congress; alleges rot has set in party

Sharmistha Mukherjee, the daughter of former President Pranab Mukherjee, lamented that several old Congress workers feel alienated from the party today due to the current state of affairs and the lack of an ideology among the top leaders.

New Delhi: Sharmistha Mukherjee, the daughter of former President Pranab Mukherjee, alleged on Sunday that decay has set in the Congress and stressed the need for serious introspection on the "sad state of affairs" in the party.

Mukherjee lamented that several old Congress workers feel alienated from the party today due to the current state of affairs and the lack of an ideology among the top leaders.

She also raised questions as to why no Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting was convened after her father's death and a resolution passed.

Mukherjee said she felt bad when no CWC meeting was convened after her father's demise. The CWC is the highest decision-making body of the Congress.

"The Congress has to answer for this. I can only state the fact. But I would like to just add, I do not know whether it was deliberate or sheer negligence. What are the conventions in such a grand old party?" she asked.

"If there is this loss of institutional memory, if Rahul Gandhi and the people around him do not know how the Congress acted in these earlier situations, that itself is a serious and sad state of affairs within the Congress," Mukherjee told PTI Videos.

Asked about recognising the contributions of non-dynastic leaders in the Congress, she said, "Let us not forget what was done to (former prime minister) P V Narasimha Rao."

"The whole Congress ecosystem, as in, its social media was relentlessly trolling me and my father over this and some other issues. The kind of language that was used on me and one of the tallest leaders like my father shows that there is a real rot in the Congress.

"The Congress, rather than unleashing trolls on social media, should do serious introspection that why a person like me who believed in the hardcore Congress ideology, today feels alienated by the party," she said.

Earlier, in a post on X, Mukherjee said: "When baba passed away, Congress didn't even bother to call CWC for a condolence meeting. A senior leader told me it's not done for Presidents. That's utter rubbish as I learned later from baba's diaries that on K R Narayanan's death, CWC was called and condolence msg was drafted by baba only." Speaking on the row over the setting up of a memorial for former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Mukherjee said she would not venture into the controversy as she is not part of the Congress anymore and has quit politics.

She, however, pitched for a memorial for Singh and said Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of the country, should also be conferred on the former prime minister posthumously.

"I would not like to say anything about this, I am not associated with the Congress anymore, I have quit politics. The Congress needs to clarify what Rahul Gandhi has said.

"I think the demand to have a memorial for Manmohan Singh is absolutely justified. He was the architect of economic reforms in India, he was the father of India's growth story, he was a two-time prime minister. So the demand for a memorial in his honour is absolutely justified. Also, on behalf of the ordinary citizens of India, I demand Bharat Ratna for him, he thoroughly deserves it," Mukherjee said.

Singh passed away at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here on December 26. He was 92.