Can't differentiate AM & PM: Daughter recalls Pranab Mukherjee's meeting with Rahul Gandhi

Sharmistha Mukherjee, daughter of former President Pranab Mukherjee made many revelations in her upcoming book which revealed her father's political run.

In her book 'In Pranab, My Father: A Daughter Remembers,' she has divulged many unknown anecdotes involving key figures including members of the Gandhi family.

One such anecdotes dates back to Pranab's Presidential years (2012-2027) and his meeting with Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.

"One morning, Baba was taking a walk in the Mughal Garden (of Rashtrapati Bhavan). So the two met. It turned out that Rahul was actually scheduled to meet Pranab later in the evening, but Rahul Gandhi's office mistakenly informed him that the meeting was in the morning," Sharmistha told ANI.

#WATCH via ANI Multimedia | “If Rahul's office can’t differentiate AM, PM“ Ex-Prez Pranab’s daughter recalls her father’s wordshttps://t.co/ggLQr4Vv3M

— ANI (@ANI) December 6, 2023

"I came to know about the incident from one of the ADCs. When I asked my father, he sarcastically replied, 'If Rahul Gandhi's office can't differentiate between 'AM' and 'PM', how do they hope to run the PMO one day?"

About Rahul, Sharmistha also said that he jumps from one subject to another very quickly. She has even revealed her father's opinion of Rahul and his political career.

Sharmistha says that her father told her "maybe politics wasn't Rahul's calling" and his "lack of charisma and political understanding is creating a problem" besides his "frequent disappearing acts".

"He advised Rahul Gandhi that he should come to the cabinet because getting hands-on experience on how the government works is very important," Sharmistha told ANI.

In the book, she recalled Pranab's rage toward Rahul when the Congress MP tore a copy of a government ordinance during a press conference on September 27, 2013. The ordinance aimed to bypass a Supreme Court order of immediate disqualification of convicted legislators, and instead proposed that they may continue as a member while an appeal in a higher court was pending.

Ironically, the ordinance could have saved Rahul from getting disqualified as a Lok Sabha MP earlier this year after he was convicted in the Modi surname case.

"He was aghast at the manner in which Rahul acted. I was the one who first broke the news to him. After a long time, I saw my father getting so angry! His face became red and he shouted, 'Who does he (Rahul) think he is? He is not a member of the Cabinet. Who is he to publicly trash a decision of Cabinet?', she wrote in her book.

In an exclusive interview with Republic TV Sharmistha, however, clarified that there was not much to the relationship between her father and Rahul. The Congress MP also had few mentions in Pranab's diary, she said.