Sonia Gandhi is the longest-serving president of the Congress party, which has governed India during most of its post-Independence decades. She was born in Italy, and educated at Cambridge University, where she met Rajiv Gandhi, who was then the son of prime minister Indira Gandhi. The two married in 1968.
After Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination in 1991, during campaigning for that year’s general elections, Sonia Gandhi initially stayed away from politics, but in 1998, she was chosen as the president of the Congress party. Under her leadership, in 2004, a Congress-led coalition came to power at the Centre. She famously declined to be prime minister — her foreign birth had become a politically controversial issue — and instead chose the economist Manmohan Singh. She was then named the chairperson of the coalition, which was called the United Progressive Alliance or the UPA.
Sonia Gandhi won her first Lok Sabha election in 1999, representing Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, a family stronghold. From 2004, she has represented Rae Bareli as an MP in the Lok Sabha. In 2024, she announced she was contesting elections from the Rajya Sabha, the indirectly elected house of Parliament, signalling her stepping back from electoral politics.
Quite a brainstorming article
He was an average minister but a good handy man and trouble shooter. Never displayed any exceptional leadership skills
Pranabda tells R. Sardesai in interview that he is not interested in such interviews then why did he give it at all. He doesn’t want to give clear cut answer them why give interview or write book. It’s of no use to people…. nothing revealed.
He says he has always been a loyalist so be happy with what you got even if you deserved more I read somewhere Sonia denied him Prime Ministership on the ground he couldn’t speak Hindi fluently.He was a disaster as Finance Minister not only because of Vodafone tax issue but also his failure to carry out economic and structural reforms.As a matter of fact he goes down in history as the worst Finance Minister.
This is the same journalist who had reported that there was a coup attempt by the Army in India some years ago. This fellow has no credibility and is popular with anti nationals.
I have tried reading Pranab Mukherjee’s books. Personally, I find them very hard to read. The worst thing about his books is the extremely submissive nature that he has towards the Gandhi’s. He doesn’t forget to shower Rajiv and Sanjiv with appreciations even for rather moderate work. He doesn’t come out as a person who understands or one who is intelligent. He feels like someone who saw politics with only one side, and is blissfully ignorant of any other opinion.
It is really interesting while mentioning Mahabharat characters how convenient you forgot character of Draupadi where is your Draupadi? A woman who was harassed by Congress people. Of course you can always show some character who once lived here and there. But Draupadi’s character was not joke it was cause of Mahabharat. And there was another truth of Mahabharat Pandav never won and never got Hastinapur back until world didn’t interfere. Don’t use such stories just to push up few people ahead since if Lord Rama decide to take revenge trust me it will never be on Congress since Lord Rama fought for respect of woman not for land.
Donot preach now people you have nothing in your Presidential texture.
Manmohan Singh is liberal economist and forward looking but pranabji is conservative and control freak. That is why Sonia preferred manmohan for pm post. She don’t abandoned pranabda also and made her president. See the fate of advani,what he got after a lifetime of hard work.
Also at the start of upa1 era while going to assune office which I fail to recollect he found a electronic bug under his chair possibly it could have been planted to monitor him but nothing is mentioned about it so also after his expulsion from congress by late rajeev gandhi he had dramatised an incident where a crude bomb was fixed under his car some thing happened he demanded an enquiry possibilly bu cbi but no one took any cognisance such things and shekhar has described above it is smelt he is not honest only disscussess the incidences which dhow him in good light
In last line it should be read as netas (politicians) and not betas that is typo error.
It is beyond understanding that a person of his stature still bowed down like a Darbari to Sonia Gandhi like the dwarf politicians of Indira Gandhi era that is still understandable because she held the wand in her hand. How shameful that even after occupying the Most Hon’ble office of the land, what stops him to reveal the truth that why he and others in Congress are still afraid of her. A common Indian definitely feels shame why our senior betas are spineless.
Excellent analysis. Unbiased, as a commentator should be, despite having deep personal and professional relationship with the subject. Pranabda was literally an 80s finance minister thrust upon 21st century India. Can’t forget his public rebuke to a journalist when she thrust her microphone in front of his mouth after a budget speech asking some question about ‘reforms’. The much agitated pranabda flew off the handle and shot back an angry repartee – “what is reform?! You tell me what is reform! I am building a backbone for indirect tax collection. For me that is reform”. And he walked away in a huff. Statist is the right word for him. Building a new tax collection system was reform for him.
Pranabda is a class politician, a seasoned veteran with some great skillsets. I remember during Mumbai attack the government was under huge pressure to retaliate in both diplomatic as well as concrete ways. But the top leadership including Dr. Manmohan Singh was looking fragile. They were not able to put forward some strong fight. And the rise of Pranabda on that occasion was stupendous. He single-handedly put forward a case against our culprit neighbor. He was voracious, confident and rallied Indian opinion at all international platform. The thing that many politicians including leaders of the opposition are cautious against attacking him directly shows the kind power and personal cult he enjoyed.
Present leaders of any party cannot match with vast experience n clean record of Pranab Mukherjee.
Almost all of the SCAMS took place under his watch as finance minister.Retro tax was a big disaster.Of course,clean record and vast experience did help. A mediocre politician with no mass base,he survived and thrived by sheer proximity to the Gandhi family.In short ……….a durbari.
Not just PV Narasimha Rao (the most important PM in modern India’s history) and the insubstantial IK Gujral (who became PM by default for a brief period, but was really quite a peripheral figure in our political history) wrote memoirs, so did LK Advani (arguably a pivotal figure in several key turning points in our political history, although he never rose to the top job) and Yashwant Sinha (at least as important a finance and foreign minister as Pranab). Most importantly, Morarji Desai wrote a detailed and very insightful 2-volume autobiography before he became PM, and another volume after he had served as PM. He was a substantial figure in our history, having presented 10 budgets as finance minister. During his two-year prime ministership, India achieved 6.5% real GDP growth, the fastest 2-year growth before 1985.
It seems we would like to stick to these brokers of political authority in Independent India
Pranav Mukherjee,Manmohan Singh were the safe baits for Gandhi Dynasty to be installed in positions of Authority to have proxy control.Some more ambitious like Sharad Pawar were brought on their knees.The memoirs of these gfns are only of coffee table interest.
Mr. Gupta makes a very good analysis of ex_president’s biography , particularly retrospective tax that foxed every one and has all foreign investor suspicious of Indian Govt.’s FDI policy.
Naturally like all biographies it is not totally honest but Mr. Gupta should understand dad’s compulsion no one particularly a man of his stature like to disrobe him self(that is thoughts) in public.
Superbly analysed. Mr Mukherjee is an icon and done great service to nation. Yet fact remains he did nothing for Bengal, did everything for Dhiru Ambani and messed up the economy as FM
There has always been an aura around the great man. I was in college when, as MoS Revenue, he would visit Calcutta on several weekends. Father’s painful duty, early Monday morning, would be to see him off at Dum Dum airport. Since there were several officials of equal seniority posted there, he suggested that they could share the honours, one at a time. After a few weeks of seeing a solitary mandarin to bid him farewell, down came the Victorian admonition, We are not amused.
the argument is fine. Dada is after all as human as anybody else. he has a great adjustment style. this is typical Indian intellectual character at the end. we should accept his limitations,. He could have been an arrogant and unpopular PM had the opportunity embraced him.