Cong better off looking for leaders outside the party: Pranab’s daughter 

As the curtains descended on the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) 2024, Prabah Mukherjee’s daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee made some strong statements about the current state of the Congress party in a session with Vir Sanghvi on the closing day. 

Pointing out that the book had been in the limelight for more wrong reasons than right, Sanghvi asked Mukherjee about some real revelations in the book. “Many have asked me if you had joined the BJP when I told them I did this interview. So, I said no, she has no intention of joining the BJP. And they asked, hasn’t she written the book to badmouth the Gandhis and join the BJP? Did you also get that when your book (Pranab My Father: A Daughter Remembers) came out?”

“Absolutely. On social media, I got trolled pretty badly, and everybody – including some of my friends in the Congress – was convinced I was joining the BJP. But, you know I quit politics in 2022 and have no intention of joining any political party,” she smiled. “My loyalties are towards my father and my primary source material for this book is his diaries. My loyalties are towards him and what I felt, how I interpreted, is something you know what he felt about certain people,” Mukherjee added. She insisted that her loyalties are not towards Sonia Gandhi or Narendra Modi. 

Reflecting on her father’s political journey, she reiterated that the biography reveals his unwavering allegiance to the Congress and his fondness towards the Gandhis. The book candidly discusses critiques of the party, including some members of the Gandhi family. These reflections, stemming from his extensive political career, unfolded during his retirement. 

Mukherjee revealed that in one of his final entries, just a month before his passing, he wrote about the downfall of the Congress and his analysis of it. “It’s an expression of anguish from a dedicated lifelong Congress member, intended without targeting any specific individual or family. It’s crucial to interpret these insights within that broader context,” she shared.

While she talks about secularism and all things that made India great, yet being associated with joining the BJP, she made a stern comment on the readers of today, “I think, I don’t know how many people read a book. I’m not talking about this crowd out here. They just go by the headlines and the tweets and jump to conclusions. We need to try to convince some people, you know, at least read the book and then come to your conclusion. Just don’t go by the highlights of the media, who will pick up anything to create controversy.” 

The festival served discussions spanning the multifaceted realms of geopolitics, the Israel-Hamas conflict, sartorial elegance, and an array of other captivating topics. The literary soiree, set against the regal backdrop of Hotel Clarks Amer, became a melting pot of ideas, where words transformed mere conversations into intellectual feasts.