NEW DELHI: Congress’s failure to recognize the end of its charismatic leadership was one of many reasons for its defeat in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, according to the former president Pranab Mukherjee those who felt a lack of extraordinary leaders reduced the establishment to a “government of averages.”
Mukherjee made these comments in his memoir “The Presidential Years, 2012-2017,” which he wrote before his death last year. The book published on Tuesday.
He also wrote that the Prime Minister Narendra modi He had not discussed the issue of demonetization with him prior to his announcement on November 8, 2016, but he was not surprised, as speed is absolutely necessary for such announcements.
In the book, Mukherjee mentioned that on the day of the 2014 Lok Sabha election results, he ordered his aide-de-camp to keep him informed of trends every half hour.
When the results were announced in the evening, he was “very relieved by the decisive mandate, but also disappointed by the performance of my previous match.”
“It was hard to believe that Congress had managed to win only 44 seats. Congress is a national institution interconnected with the lives of the people. Its future is always a concern of every thinking individual,” he wrote in the book, published by Rupa Publications. .
The former leader of Congress and Minister of the Union attributed this defeat to many reasons.
“I feel like the party did not recognize the end of their charismatic leadership. Senior leaders like Pandit Nehru made sure that India, unlike Pakistan, survived and became a strong and stable nation. Unfortunately, such extraordinary leaders are no longer reducing the establishment to a government of averages, “he wrote.
According to Mukherjee, when he looked back at his years as president, he got satisfaction not only from the fact that he followed the rule book in letter and spirit when dealing with governments and the issues of the day, but also because he never deviated from the parameters. constitutional laws that have been established for an Indian head of state.
He wrote that he had very cordial relations with Prime Minister Modi during his tenure.
“However, I did not hesitate to give my advice on policy matters during our meetings. There were several occasions when he echoed the concerns that I had expressed. I also believe that he has quickly grasped the nuances of foreign policy.” added. said the book.
Mukherjee’s approach to maintaining cordial relations with Modi was based on the fact that “I believe in the parliamentary form of government and its principles.”
“Modi had received a decisive mandate from the people to administer the country. Administrative powers are in the Council of Ministers, which is headed by the prime minister. Therefore, I did not violate my jurisdiction. Whenever delicate occasions arose, problems were resolved.” . he wrote.
“At an event in which PM Modi launched a book and I was present, I commented that it was not that I did not have differences with him, but that we both knew how to handle those differences, without bringing them to light. “he added.
However, Mukherjee regretted that the NDA government, during its first term of 2014-19, failed to fulfill its primary responsibility to ensure the smooth and proper functioning of Parliament.
“I attribute the acrimonious exchanges between the Treasury and the Opposition seats to arrogance and inept government management. But the Opposition is not blameless either. It had also behaved irresponsibly,” he wrote.
According to Mukherjee, the mere physical presence of the prime minister in Parliament makes a huge difference in the functioning of this institution.
“Yes it was Jawaharlal nehru, Indira Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee o Manmohan Singh, each of these former PMs made their presence felt on the floor of the Chamber.
“Prime Minister Modi, now in his second term, must draw inspiration from his predecessors and provide visible leadership, through his increased presence in Parliament to avoid situations that precipitated the parliamentary crisis that we witnessed in the first term,” says the book.
Modi, Mukherjee said, should listen to dissenting voices and speak more often in Parliament, adding that he should use it as a forum to spread his views to convince the Opposition and inform the nation.
Regarding foreign relations, Mukherjee considered that Modi’s stopover in Lahore was “unnecessary and unjustified, given the prevailing conditions” in relations between India and Pakistan.
“It was clear that one could expect the unexpected from Modi, because he had come without the ideological foreign policy baggage. He was going to continue with these surprises: he made a sudden and unscheduled stop in Lahore in December 2015 to greet his then Pakistani counterpart. ., Nawaz sharif, on the birthday of the latter; and initiated an annual informal summit with the Chinese president: one was held in Wuhan in China in 2018 and the other, most recently, in Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu in 2019. ”
On Modi he did not discuss demonetization with him before announcing it, Mukherjee wrote: “I am of the firm opinion that the demonetization could not have been done with prior consultation because the abruptness and surprise, absolutely necessary for such announcements, would have been lost afterwards. of such a process. ”
“So it didn’t surprise me that he didn’t discuss the issue with me before making the public announcement. It also fit his style of making dramatic announcements,” he said.
However, after delivering his speech to the nation, Modi visited Mukherjee in Rashtrapati Bhavan and explained the reason for the decision.
“He wanted explicit support from me as the country’s former finance minister. I pointed out to him that while it was a bold step, it could lead to a temporary slowdown in the economy. We would have to be more careful to alleviate the suffering of the poor through medium and long term, “Mukherjee said.
“Since the announcement was made in a sudden and dramatic way, I asked the prime minister if he had ensured that there was adequate currency for the exchange,” he added.
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