'Is it a crime to be ambitious?': Pranab Mukherjee's daughter responds to Sonia Gandhi's memoir

Sharmistha Mukherjee, daughter of former President Pranab Mukherjee, has defended her father's ambition to become prime minister, questioning why it should have shocked Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and saying his aspirations were backed by decades of political experience, hard work and merit.

Responding to Gandhi's account of a 2010 conversation with Pranab Mukherjee in her memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, Sharmistha said there was nothing unusual about a seasoned politician aspiring to occupy the country's highest executive office.

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"What's there to get ‘shocked’ about? Is it a crime to be ambitious, especially when that ‘ambition’ was supported by decades of experience in politics & governance, hard work & a brilliant mind?" she said.

Recalling a conversation with her father, Sharmistha said she had once asked him whether he wanted to become prime minister. He had candidly replied that "any politician worth his salt has this ambition", she said.

She also pointed to her father's humble beginnings, arguing that he had risen through the ranks on the strength of his own abilities and hard work, rather than dynastic privilege.

"My father came from a very humble background. Whatever he achieved in his life was through sheer merit & hard-work. There was no-one to serve him positions, including PM-ship, on a platter due to dynastic entitlements," she said.

Questioning Gandhi's reaction, Sharmistha said there was nothing wrong with a deserving person aspiring to become prime minister, and suggested that the surprise may have stemmed from the fact that someone outside the Gandhi-Nehru family had expressed such an ambition.

"If a well-deserving person harbours ambition to become Prime Minister, what’s wrong in that, unless Sonia ji was ‘shocked’ by the fact that anyone outside Gandhi-Nehru family could even dare to nurture such an ambition & furthermore dared to ‘hint’ it to her?" she said.

Sharmistha also sought to clarify that her father did not hold Gandhi's response to the conversation against her or anyone else. Referring to his diaries and her conversations with him, she said he understood the reasons behind Gandhi's reaction.

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"In this same context, I read that she said she felt ‘he never held it against me’. From what I read in his diaries & whatever conversation he had with me, I would like to reassure her that he DID NOT hold it against her or anyone else. He was a pragmatic person with deep understanding. He understood her reasons & insecurities that all human beings are prone to," she said.

What Sonia Gandhi wrote

In her memoir, Gandhi recalled that Pranab Mukherjee had developed serious differences with then Finance Minister P Chidambaram. During a conversation in 2010, after expressing his frustration, he suggested that perhaps it was time for a change at the top, which Gandhi interpreted as a hint of his long-held desire to become prime minister.

"He (Pranab) had developed serious differences with the Finance Minister P Chidambaram, and on one occasion, in 2010, I think after expressing his frustration, he shocked me with the suggestion that perhaps it was time for a change at the top, which I understood as a hint of his long-held desire to become prime minister," Gandhi wrote.

She added that she gently changed the subject and that, although Mukherjee may have been disappointed, he never made her feel he held her response against her.

At the time, Manmohan Singh was prime minister and the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was in its second term. Mukherjee had served in several key Cabinet positions, including finance, defence and external affairs. He was elected President of India in 2012 and held the office until 2017. He died in August 2020.