‘BJP has done more for Congress leaders’: Sharmishtha Mukherjee

As Congress continues to up the ante on the Bharatiya Janata Party over former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s funeral site, Sharmishtha Mukherjee, daughter of former President Pranab Mukherjee, unequivocally stated that while the grand old party pushes its own leaders away, the BJP has a more ‘inclusive’ approach.

Speaking to SRK Nation, she also blamed the Congress for misappropriation of its own leaders. “The BJP is more inclusive. They respected our leaders more than the Congress did. Look at how they gave awards to Tarun Gogoi, Ghulam Nabi Azad; they were all Congressmen. The Congress pushes its own away,” Sharmishtha told in an exclusive interview.

She also raised questions as to why no Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting was convened after her father’s death and a resolution passed. Mukherjee lamented that several old Congress workers feel alienated from the party today due to the current state of affairs and the lack of an ideology among the top leaders.

Earlier, in a post on X, Mukherjee said: “When baba passed away, Congress didn’t even bother to call CWC for a condolence meeting. A senior leader told me it’s not done for Presidents. That’s utter rubbish as I learned later from baba’s diaries that on K R Narayanan’s death, CWC was called and condolence msg was drafted by baba only.” Speaking on the row over the setting up of a memorial for former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Mukherjee said she would not venture into the controversy as she is not part of the Congress anymore and has quit politics.

She, however, pitched for a memorial for Singh and said Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of the country, should also be conferred on the former prime minister posthumously.

“I think the demand to have a memorial for Manmohan Singh is absolutely justified. He was the architect of economic reforms in India, he was the father of India’s growth story, he was a two-time prime minister. So the demand for a memorial in his honour is absolutely justified. Also, on behalf of the ordinary citizens of India, I demand Bharat Ratna for him, he thoroughly deserves it,” Mukherjee said.